The New Kid
by WritingIsMyLife9812
Summary: When a new kid comes to town, nobody really thinks anything of it. But this kid has a huge effect on Alvin. Constant texts, constant beat-downs. He doesn't know what he's supposed to do anymore. He only knows one thing: he needs to continue protecting his brothers. Based off of the Alvinnn! And the chipmunks 2015 version of the show.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello people! This idea had been swarming my head for the longest time so I decided to write it. This is based of the 2015 Cartoon version of the show. Well, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the plot.**

* * *

Alvin groaned as the 'prison' came into view just as every other morning. He just didn't get the point of going to school five days a week when he wasn't even paying attention. He was a Rockstar; he could just make a living off that.

Simon rolled his eyes at his younger brother's antics and tightened his grip around the straps of his backpack as he felt the vehicle came to a halting stop. Theodore, followed by Alvin and Simon, hopped out of the car, each wearing a completely different attitude and slowly made their way into the building.

"Bye, boys have fun at school!" Dave called to them with a wave. As they walked into school, Alvin and Simon started bickering about the importance of school while Theodore tried to break them up. Eventually, because neither of them were backing down, they agreed to disagree as they each approached their lockers and were greeted by the chipettes.

"What's up?" Alvin addressed the girls, his formerly grumpy attitude switched to a more chill, laid back one.

"Just getting ready for science. I wonder what new knowledge they'll be teaching today." Replied an excited, sweet, feminine voice.

"From what I heard, we're going to be doing an experiment today." Simon responded with the same excitement in his voice.

"Who cares about that? I managed to get the principle to switch my class from gym to home economics! Guess being the principle's assistant has some benefits" Brittany's voice rung out, the rude tone that it started with changing to a more boastful tone.

"How is home economics a good thing?" Alvin questioned his counterpart. "It's basically a class where you get graded on chores." He finished in a classic, cocky way.

"Because they're doing fashion right now, Alvin. Plus, I no longer have to smell disgusting gym odor." She countered while Alvin rolled his eyes at her response. Eleanor and Theodore were having their own conversation about what she should bake for an upcoming baking competition and how Theodore was going gather the ingredients after school.

As they finished up their conversations, they found themselves standing in the doorway of Miss Smith's classroom. They all sat down at their desks, still chatting and looked to the front of the room. Standing in the front of the room stood an unfamiliar kid.

His hair was jet black and spikey, he had slightly tan skin, and had a squared jaw. He had a muscular build which could make any girl swoon and was pretty tall. His piercing amber eyes scanned the room, as if looking for something.

He was wearing a leather jacket over a snow-white shirt, dark washed jeans, and black tennis shoes, which were once snow white, but were now covered by dirt and dust.

Simon, Theodore, and the chipettes were slightly intimidated but ignored him nonetheless and carried on with their conversations. Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were talking about their up-coming concert with the girls, meanwhile Brittany managed to drag her sisters into some conversation about boys.

"Class, before we start, I would like to…Quiet!" Everyone turned their attention to Miss Smith, except for Alvin of course.

"So are what song are we begin with?" He questioned his brothers, whose eyes were bouncing between Alvin and a very annoyed looking Miss Smith.

"Alvin! Pay attention!"

"Why? It's not like I'm gonna learn anything!" Alvin retorted, and it was true, even if he tried to, he just couldn't keep his attention on Miss Smith for very long.

"Alvin." Calm.

"But..."

"Alvin!" Not so calm.

"But…"

"ALVIN!" She yelled, her patience worn thin.

"Oh fine." He gave up, but knew he wasn't going to listen anyway. No one noticed, but Spike started smirking.

"Alright. Everyone, I would like to introduce Spike. You can take a seat besides Derek." It sounded like an option, but everyone knew when teachers said that you didn't have much of a choice. She pointed at Derek and the empty seat next to him.

He smiled before slowly making his way to his seat. On his way to the back, he stopped by Alvin's desk and nudged him with his foot, hard enough to make Alvin almost fall out of his seat.

"Hey! Watch it Pal!" Alvin yelled at him, not backing down even after Spike's menacing glare. His brothers and friend had seen what had happened but were surprised Alvin yelled at such a big, intimidating looking guy. Everyone around Alvin backpedaled upon seeing Spike's glare toward Alvin, and expected Alvin to do the same, but he didn't. He continued to stare him down until Spike broke the gaze.

When Spike got to the back of the room, he shot Alvin a look. Alvin caught it and rolled his eyes.

Miss Smith, after watching the scene with the new kid and the troublemaker of the class, quickly recovered from shock and gave Spike detention. She started droning on about math, and everyone followed her footsteps, but they were still slightly shocked.

About halfway through class, as Alvin was jotting down a note next to his weird, alien doodles, Alvin felt somethings pointy hit his back and quickly turned around. When he did, he saw a crumpled piece of paper, and being a very social kind of guy, he knew it what it was. He slowly unfolded the paper, careful for to tear it, and started reading it. As he read it, his smirk fell to the floor and a frown replaced it. The note read:

 _Hey you filthy little fur-ball! You're going to meet me in the back of the school tonight at 10. If you don't show or you peep a word of this, your brothers will get it! ~ Spike_

Alvin gulped and read of the note again. How did he know those were his brothers? Or that he was very protective of them? He glanced at his brothers, whose eyes were fixated on the board, and quickly made his decision. Even if these were empty threats, which he had a feeling they weren't, he didn't want to take that chance.

He read it one more time then looked at his brothers. He quickly searched the room for Spike and when he found him, he nodded and cringed seeing the smirk that crawled onto Spike's face. These definitely weren't empty threats.

He looked at the chipettes, and saw Brittany staring at him oddly. She had heard the note hit his back and saw him pick it up and read it. She also saw his reaction which confused her greatly. He didn't know what he was supposed to tell her, so he sighed and looked back down.

He felt her eyes linger on him for a bit longer before she adverted her eyes back to the board and started scrawling down notes. He got lost in his thoughts but was quickly jerked out of them by Miss Smith calling on him.

"Alvin, do you mind putting the answer up for number 2?" He chuckled a little bit. She said number two. He looked at the board and automatically was confused. What was it even asking?

"Actually Miss Smith, I do mind."

"Alvin, I wasn't asking. Now, can you please do number 2?" She said it again. He chuckled again before responding.

"Sure sounded like a question."

"Just do the problem." She hissed through her teeth, not surprising anyone. If it was anyone else it would have been surprising, but this was Alvin.

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Aliens clearly wrote it. There's no other reason it could be this weirdly written!" Brittany opened her mouth to comment before remembering his reaction to the note and quickly shut her mouth, resulting in her sister to give her odd looks. She didn't care, though. She saw the shock and fear in his eyes as he finished reading.

"Come up and try or you can see me in detention later" she threatened.

"Ugh, fine!" He walked up to the board and read the problem. He looked at the problem for a few seconds before starting to work it out. _  
_

When he wrote the answer on the board, everyone was shocked. They were surprised to see that he had gotten it correct, especially after his argument with Miss Smith. He sat back down and saw the looks on his brother's faces and friends faces.

"What are you looking at?"

"You got it right" Simon answered, still in shock. Alvin's eyes widened in shock.

"Really?!" He asked excitedly. Simon nodded and looked back at the board.

"Good job, Alvin. Now next question" Miss Smith started bloviating as Alvin started zoning out again. He suddenly realized the paper was still on his desk and sighed, his happiness leaving him quicker than it came.

He started to think about what would happen if his brothers got hurt because of him. He'd feel terrible knowing he was the cause. He put his arms on the desk and buried his head into them. He kept them there, thinking about his brothers and his meeting with Spike tonight. He was so into his thoughts that he didn't notice the lunch bell ring, dismissing everyone.

"Alvin." Nothing.

"Alvin." Nada.

"Alvin!" Zip.

"Alvin!" Zilch.

"ALVIN!" Alvin snapped out of his thoughts and snapped his head up. He found himself looking into the blue eyes of an annoyed Simon.

"What?" Alvin answered back, just as annoyed.

"It's time for lunch."

"Ugh." Alvin lazily stood up, grabbed his things slowly and made his way out the door. His siblings and the chipettes shared a look before following him.

"Did you have a good nap?" Brittany's voice mocked as they made their way to their lockers to put away their books.

"I didn't take a nap." Alvin stated opening his locker, not catching the mockery in her voice.

"Then what were you doing?" She mocked again. She couldn't tell if he was lying or not. She looked at the others and could tell they were thinking the same.

"I was just thinking." He slammed his locker shut and walked away, not in the mood to talk with his friends. They quickly caught up to him and started interrogating him, which he was not happy about.

"Okay, what's wrong with you?" He turned to his right to look at Brittany and noticed that she was the only one to catch up with him. "Was it that note?" She had asked him quite loudly, but luckily, the others didn't hear.

"What's it to you?!" He shot back, vexed. What was he supposed to do? He didn't even know what was going to happen tonight. He was snapped back out of his thoughts by Brittany again. _Does she ever stop?!_

"Well sorry for being worried." She quickly realized what she and started to heat up in embarrassment. "Not that I was worried." She looked around nervous and saw that everyone had caught up and was giving her strange looks. Embarrassed, she decided to go back to interrogating Alvin. She opened her mouth to speak, but they were quickly drowned out by the chatter of the lunchroom.

"Well, I'm going to go get my lunch" Alvin quickly stated in a poor attempt to escape Brittany.

"Didn't Dave pack your lunch today?" Simon asked, knowing what his brother was doing.

"Um, I forgot it in the classroom."

"It's in your hand."

"Whatever! I'm going to the bathroom" He didn't have to go, but he knew Brittany couldn't enter the boy's bathroom. Before anyone could object, he was already racing down the hall to the bathrooms.

* * *

The bathroom wasn't kept very clean. The walls and floor were covered in a brown sticky substance; the stalls were covered graffiti, the toilets, along with the sinks were covered in grime. Blood parts if the mirror and counter.

Upon entering the restroom, he looked around and cringed. He was trying to find something to do when his stomach growled. He was about to go back to his group but as he turned around, someone else entered. He was about to just pass by without second thought but felt something hit his stomach, sending him backwards slightly.

"Watch it Buddy!" He looked up and into found himself staring into a pair of very familiar amber eyes. He had taken a step back before he stood tall again and glared into the person's eyes. Blue clashed with amber, both holding a very similar hatred.

"I could say the same for you! Get in my way again, and it will get ugly." Spike started walking past when he saw Alvin roll his eyes and start mumbling.

"You know...you could you some straighten up" Spike said with a tone in his voice that made Alvin slightly uncomfortable.

"What are you talking abo…" He was cut off by the feeling of being lifted and felt himself being slammed into the cold, hard wall. The wind got knocked out of him, causing him to start taking in huge breaths of air. The impact of the tiles caused pain to shoot through his back.

Spike smirked, seeing Alvin try to regain his breath. "You know, this could've been avoided, but you had to go and be an impudent, cocky little twerp. Next time, don't mess with me."

Instead of cowering in fear like Spike expected, Alvin just groaned in annoyance and rolled his eyes once more. Spike frown, seeing that he wasn't getting through to his victim, but smirked as he remembered his weakness.

"Next time you disrespect me, your brothers will go down and I'm going to make you watch! You'll know you were the reason, the reason, your brothers will be bloody and bruised; you'll know it was all your fault!" He screamed the last part and watched Alvin's annoyed face quickly turn to fear and seeing that he had gotten through to his victim, he started grinning like a criminal.

Alvin suddenly yelled at him in, desperation evident in his voice. "Do what you want to me just leave them alone!" He pulled Alvin forward from the wall and slammed him back into it, this time with much more force. This time, since his guard was down, he let out a yelp of pain.

"See you later twerp." He pulled Alvin, who was scared out of his mind, toward him before tossing him across the bathroom. When Spike left, Alvin got up and pondered over what he said.

" _Next time you disrespect me, your brothers will go down and I'm going to make you watch! You'll know you were the reason, the reason, your brothers will be bloody and bruised; you'll know it was all your fault!"_

Alvin caught his breath and sighed before he started walking out of the bathroom. As he was walking out, he heard the bell ring, signaling the end of recess, which takes place after lunch. He started heading toward his classroom, quite excited to get away from anywhere unsupervised.

Realizing his slow pace, he sped up, but found that the restroom he had went to was on the other side of the building. He covered his ears as the late bell blared through the school, echoing in the halls the same way it would if you were stuck at the bottom of a cliff, screaming for help.

When the bell finally stopped ringing, he uncovered his ears and looked around. There was nobody in sight which had him feeling slightly vulnerable. He quickened his pace to a speed walk, almost a jog, and continued down the long, empty hallway.

When he finally arrived at Miss Smith's doorway, he was already ten minutes late. He nervously put his hand on the knob and opened the door. When he was in the room and closing the door behind him, he felt all eyes on him.

"Alvin, what a surprise." Miss Smith said dully. She, along with everyone else, had assumed Alvin was skipping class. He didn't say anything, but his aquamarine eyes scanned the room for Spike. When he found him, he saw him smirking at him like the mad hatter. He sighed and started walking towards his desk.

"So Alvin, why are you late?" He racked his brain for an excuse, tossing out every idea he came with.

"Alvin?" He felt everyone's eyes on him.

"Alvin!"

"I don't know okay!" He said burying his face into his sleeves.

"Well then, detention!" They all looked at Alvin, waiting for his protests, but got none. Miss Smith went back to teaching, but five pairs of eyes remained on him. He knew they were staring at him, but was to stressed out to do anything about it.

Spike's threats whirled in his mind like a hurricane. He just couldn't shake his words, especially the threat towards his brothers. He couldn't believe what he had gotten himself into. He did start feeling more sympathy towards Simon from his bully situation with Derek, but this seemed… Different.

The dismissal bell rang and Alvin remained in his seat, which was odd.

"Aren't you going to leave?" Miss Smith asked him with suspicion clear in her voice.

"Mhm what? Oh, um, I have detention. Remember?"

"Yes, but you get a fifteen-minute break in-between."

"I think I'll just sit here." He didn't like the idea of being unsupervised and was going to push it off as much as he could.

"Alvin, go!"

"You haven't even dismissed us yet!" He shot back, desperate.

"Class dismissed." Most kids, including Alvin, stayed in place while hardly any left.

"You may leave now, Alvin." She said sternly.

"But I don't want to leave!"

"I have papers to grade and can't with your talking."

"I'll be quiet." He tried to reason with her, leaning back in his chair before quickly sitting back up. "Ouch!"

"Oh, fine, Alvin!" She looked around at the classroom before saying, "You guys may leave." Everyone took the hint and left the room. When everyone left, the room was silent, surprising Miss Smith. She thought he was trying to butter her up for something, but here he was, sitting quietly.

She looked up from her papers and towards Alvin. She eyed him for a few seconds before looking back down to her papers. She heard a shuffling noise and saw Alvin getting something from his bag.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, suspicion clear in her voice.

"I'm getting my homework out. What else am I supposed to do?" A few students entered the room and sat down. They all sighed and looked towards Miss Smith, waiting for her to start the timer.

"Alvin, Amber, Jessica, Spike, Veronica." Each student raised their hands as she called their names. Alvin's eyes darted from his paper when he heard Spike's name being called. _When did he get detention?_ He thought as he looked towards the bold kid.

He sighed and looked back down towards his homework. _Write an emotional, heartfelt poem about your feelings using descriptive words._ How am I supposed to do this? He tried coming up with something, but nothing was coming up. School? No. Homework? No. He sighed and put away that assignment and grabbed another.

 _U.S. Presidents._ He settled for this and started writing down his answers. The detention room was quiet, almost too quiet, as the clock ticked. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes felt like hours. Nothing was happening, which never happened when Alvin had detention.

Alvin put his pencil to the paper, his answer circling in his brain, but felt something hit his back. _Not again!_ He hesitantly turned around and felt his shoulders droop. Another note. He opened it but was kind of shock, mostly confused, by what he read.

 _Text this number: (987) 567-9128_

He crumbled the paper and sighed. He slipped the paper in his pocket, feeling the other piece, and started writing again. He wasn't planning on texting the number; he didn't even know who it was from. He had a good idea but didn't what to think about that.

Everything was quiet again until the timer went off, scaring everyone. Most of the kids jumped out of their seats and ran out of the room. Alvin also darted out of the classroom, temporarily forgetting about Spike as he opened his locker. He put away everything he didn't need and closed his locker again.

He was walking out of the school when he felt himself being lifted once again. He couldn't see who was doing it, but he already knew. A few seconds later, just like earlier, he felt himself make contact with the wall. He gasped for breath as he screamed in pain. The bruises from earlier caused his back to be extra sensitive.

"Do you ever quit?" He questioned rudely, not in the mood to deal with Spike at the moment. He felt himself come forward again before slamming back into the wall, causing him to scream out again.

"No. You need to learn how to behave. Cockiness is not working for you."

"But…" Slam, "Would you stop?!"

"This is what I mean. You're a rude, overly confident twerp who needs to learn he's not all that." Alvin felt himself coming forward again.

"Please don't!" He was desperate. He didn't want to be slammed again. Spike smiled at him before pushing him into the wall again, more force this time. Alvin's eyes watered as tears of pain threatened to spill over.

"Aww… Are you gonna cry? Come on, cry for me!" Spike screamed. This only caused Alvin to straighten up before Spike could do or say anything else.

"Did you get my note?" Spike brought him forward again, an ultimatum tone in his voice.

"Which one?" Alvin answered smugly. Slam. Alvin rolled his eyes, his annoyance growing quickly.

"The phone number."

"Yes. Yes, I did. What about it?"

"Text it."

"Why?"

"Because if you don't, you'll get slammed into this wall again." Alvin huffed and rolled his eyes. He pulled out his phone and the paper with the number on it, then did as he was told.

"There. Happy?"

"Very."

"Then can you put me down? Like, now!" He screamed at him, his face red.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because my brothers are going to get suspicious if I'm not home in five minutes." He pulled out an excuse, hoping he'd believe him. They didn't really worry unless he doesn't come until after dark.

"Like they care about you. You're just a burden to them." Alvin tried to hide the hurt look on his face but failed. Spike started laughing darkly.

"I'll have you know, that last time I went out without telling the them they freaked." He was lying, but his tone was really convincing.

"Shut it! I'll let you go, but if you tell anyone anything, you're dead!" He threatened again and looked up to see a relieved looking Alvin.

"Finally." He mumbled but quickly regretted it. Slam.

"Do you ever stop?" He screamed at him, the annoyance drowning out the pain. He felt himself drop to the ground. A second later he felt a jab in his stomach, causing him to clutch his abdomen.

"Remember, tonight!" Spike said harshly before walking away. Alvin sighed before getting up and slowly walking to the sidewalk. When he started walking, he looked down at his watch and his eyes widened. He quickened his pace, his head tilted slightly down, as he started coming up with excuses to use with his brothers.

* * *

After a couple of minutes of thinking, he made a face. "Oh, why didn't I think of it before?!" He exclaimed, looking up to see his house was still about a block away. He took a deep breath and started darting toward his house. When he reached his house, his breathing was slightly labored, but not by much.

By now he had forgotten about his discolored back and side. He opened the door and entered the cool, air-conditioned house. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and quickly pulled it out of his sweater pocket. He unlocked his phone and his face scrunched up. It was an unknown number.

 _Don't forget about tonight!_ Alvin groaned.

 _How could I forget with your constant reminders?_ He shot back at him, his eyes darkening slightly. He went to the living room after putting his phone in his pocket. He spotted Simon playing _his_ video game, but he was to full of hatred to care. He walked toward the kitchen, seeing as he missed lunch and grabbed an apple.

He was about to turn around, but spotted Theodore. He was rummaging through the refrigerator, murmuring something. When he heard Alvin enter the kitchen, he turned around and looked at him.

"Where have you been?"

"Um, the skate park." Theodore looked at him, slightly confused. Alvin's voice was deeper and slightly quiet, his words venomous. His face was as red as his sweater, his lips were pursed, and he wore a frown. Theodore was going to say something, but decided against it knowing how Alvin got when he was angry.

Alvin started walking away when his phone suddenly dinged. He pulled his phone out at lightning speed, gritting his teeth as he read it.

 _You're so stupid! That's why! Because I know you'll forget!_

His body started shaking. Theodore, being the caring brother he was, walked over to Alvin in concern. When he looked at him, he stepped back slightly.

"Simon!" He called, slightly fearful. Simon heard this and bolted to the kitchen, without even bothering to pause his game.

"Theodore! Are you okay?" He asked him, not noticing Alvin yet. Theodore pointed towards Alvin, whose fists were clenching.

"What did he do?" Simon turned towards Alvin, completely annoyed.

"I don't know," Theodore responded quietly. Without another word, Simon walked towards Alvin, determination shining in his eyes. When he got closer, he noticed Alvin's eyes had a little shine to them. He walked in front of Alvin, who was still staring at his phone and put his hands on his shoulders, causing Alvin to step back.

"Alvin, what's going on?" Alvin finally looked up, turning off his phone and putting it back in his pocket.

"Why would you think something's going on?" He asked him, despite it being obvious.

"Alvin, I know you. You're upset about something, and I want to know what it is." Simon told him, concerned and annoyed, concern being dominant.

"I said I was fine!" Alvin growled at him through his teeth. Suddenly Alvin stop gritting his teeth and scrunched up his face in pain.

"Alvin?" They turned to see sad eyes peering at them. Alvin eyes softened, remembering why he was doing this. He let out a shaky sigh, softly smiling at his naïve little brother. Knowing that he was going to spill soon, he started walking away. He was stressed, and they were not helping in any matter, especially because he couldn't say anything.

"And where are you going?" Simon followed him, still hoping to get something out of him.

"To my room. I have homework to do."

"Since when do you care about homework?" Theodore asked him curiously. Alvin ignored them and quickened his pace, already regretting coming home. His phone dinged again but he ignored it, already knowing who it was.

"I'll be upstairs if you need me, but I would like to be left alone," He said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. His brothers sighed and decided to ask him about it later. Alvin smiled in relief before darting up the stairs.

"What happened?" Simon asked Theodore.

"Well, I was getting stuff for Ellie's baking competition..." Theodore continued to explain, listening to the door shut upstairs.

Alvin closed the door behind him, throwing his backpack and the apple to the side, and flopped onto his bed, causing him to wince. He relaxed slightly, seeing as he was really tense before, and sighed as he let his mind wonder. He tensed up again and exhaled. He slowly felt his shoulders relax, and his eyes drooped.

"Nobody can know about this." He whispered before letting the darkness consumes him.

* * *

 **So what'd you think? What did you think of the characters? Did I do good at capturing them? If not, feel free to give me some suggestions to improve them. I'd love to here from you so leave those reviews! Give me suggestions of what you think should happen and you never know, I might use them. Feel free to leave any of your thought. If they're negative, tell me what I could do to improve. I would also appreciate someone sending in a better summary than I managed to put together. Hope you enjoyed!  
**

 **Peace Out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! I'm back. So, sorry this took SO long to get out, I was busy. I also revised this about seven times that I remember before I got it to something I actually liked. I know it's not as good as the first, but I still put a lot of time into it. Anyways, hope you enjoy!  
**

* * *

Around three hours later, dinner was ready. The girls were coming over so Dave made a little bit extra.

"Alvin!" Dave called up to him once everyone had sat down.

"Simon, Theodore, can you go get Alvin?" He asked them, annoyed. They hopped out of their seats and made their way up the stairs. When they entered, they were surprised to see that Alvin was sleeping, his tail wrapped around him as he murmured words in his sleep. He shifted, as if trying to get comfortable. Simon couldn't help but notice that whenever Alvin went onto his back, his face contorted into a face of pain.

"Alvin, Alvin wake up." Simon said softly, knowing that if he didn't Alvin won't wake up in the best of moods. He shook him, causing Alvin to stir slightly.

"Alvin." Simon raised his voice slightly, shaking him harder. Alvin's eyes slowly fluttered open before he looked towards Simon and Theodore.

"What time is it?" He asked groggily, barely keeping his eyes open.

"It's time for dinner." Theodore told him, his enthusiasm for food shining through, "The girls are already here." Alvin groaned and yawned. He had sat up quickly before he lied back down, still wanting to go back to sleep. He winced and quickly sat up again while muttering a quick, "Ouch!"

He dragged himself out of his bed and lazily made his way towards the door. Just as he was about to leave their bedroom, he felt an arm hold him back, causing him to jump. "Alvin, are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Alvin was genuinely confused; he wasn't sure why Simon would be asking him that.

"It's just you've been…you know what, it's nothing." Simon decided to just let it go as him and his brothers made it down the stairs.

"It's about time." Brittany rudely commented when the three came into view.

"What were you even doing?" Eleanor asked curiously.

"Sleeping." Alvin mindlessly commented. He was still kind of foggy from the nap as he stumbled to his seat.

Despite the fact it was odd for Alvin to nap, everyone continued the conversation like every other night, that was until Brittany spoke up.

"Hey Alvin, what did that note say?" Brittany asked him about halfway through dinner.

"What note…." He trailed off as his eyes became wide with realization as the day's events replayed in his head. He heard his fork drop but paid no attention to it as the day's events came rushing back.

 _Hey you filthy little fur-ball! You're going to meet me in the back of the school tonight at 10. If you don't show or you peep a word of this, your brothers will get it! ~Spike_

 _"Next time you disrespect me, your brothers will go down and I'm going to make you watch! You'll know you were the reason, the reason, your brothers will be bloody and bruised; you'll know it was all your fault!"_

 _"Like they care about you. You're just a burden to them."_

 _"Shut it! I'll let you go, but if you tell anyone anything, you're dead!"_

He snapped out of his thought to see six curious, concerned eyes staring at him. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he felt a buzz in his pocket. He whipped his phone out of his pocket, feeling the notes he stiffed in his pockets earlier, before reading the message.

 _3 hours. Don't be late!_ He let out a shaky sigh before turning towards Dave.

"May I be excused?" He barely waited for a reply before jumping out of his seat and darting up the stairs. When he reached his bedroom, he started pacing, something he only did when he was nervous or deep in thought; he was both.

"Alvin?" He turned to see his brothers once again. They were staring at him, concern gleaming in their eyes as he continued to pace back and forth.

"What?" Alvin acknowledged while turning to face them.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Alvin, you ran off during dinner and barely ate a thing!"

"I wasn't hungry." Although he understood they were worried, he was starting to get a little agitated. His phone beeped again. He ignored his phone and continued his argument with Simon.

"Alvin," They looked towards the voice. It was Theodore. "Why won't you tell us what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Simon and Theodore looked at each other and nodded simultaneously before jumping onto Alvin.

"Flying tickle attack!" As Alvin's back hit the floor, he bit his tongue. It hurt for a second, but before he knew it he was in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"St-stop!" He managed to say in-between his laughter.

"Then tell us what's wrong." Simon demanded, smiling down at his brother.

"No…...Fine! I'll tell you, just get off of me!" Simon and Theodore shared a victorious look before getting of Alvin. When they got off, Alvin was quick to jump up and back away from them.

"So…what is it?" Theodore looked towards him, curious and anxious, hoping it wasn't another one of his schemes.

"What is what?"

"What's wrong," Simon said in a 'duh' tone as he rolled his eyes at Alvin.

"Nothing's wrong." Alvin lied, giving them a toothy grin that was clearly fake.

"You said you'd tell us what's wrong. Tell us!"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"I can't." Simon's eyes softened slightly at his brother's tone.

"You know, it's not good to hold in your feelings." Theodore stated as Simon and him shared a look.

"I'm fine!" He snapped at them, raising his voice.

"Alvin, you're not fine. Just tell us what's wrong. Maybe we can help." Simon tried to reason, ignoring his brother's temper.

"I said I was fine!" He screamed at them, his head starting to pound slightly.

"Alvin, why won't you tell us?" Theodore asked him while looking at him with same pleading eyes from earlier. Alvin looked at him and sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Because I'm fine." He stated sending an apologetic look Theodore's way.

"Did you get detention again?" Theodore started the guessing game.

"No." Alvin muttered, his headache increasing as he continued to rub his temples.

"Did you fail again?"

"No."

"Did you? Theodore started before getting cut off by Alvin.

"I'm fine! Will you just leave me alone?"

"Not until you tell us what's wrong," Simon stated stubbornly.

"I'm not telling." Alvin crossed his arms, his annoyance starting to show on his face. Simon and Theodore stepped toward him, casing Alvin to take a step back. Simon looked at Alvin before looking down at Theodore. Simon bent down slightly and quickly whispered something into Theodore's ear. Once again they took a step toward Alvin, causing him to step back again. After this repeated a few more times, Alvin realized what they were doing. His eyes scanned the room, but stopped when he took notice of the window, which was wide open.

When he got closer to the window, he ran towards it without another word. His brothers tried to call him back, but he ignored them and continued to make his way down the tree located next to their house. When he reached the bottom, he looked around. It was dark so there wasn't much to see. He grabbed his phone out and checked the time. He let out a groan and read the message that appeared on the home screen.

 _Remember, don't peep a word!_ He let out another sigh before he felt his headache increase. Not feeling like dealing with his brothers again, he looked around for someone to go for the next hour and a half. His eyes stopped on the chipette's tree house and after a bit of debate, he decided it was still better than his brothers.

When he arrived at their door, he looked inside to see if they were even there. He heard voices, but didn't see anyone. His hand hovered by the door, balled in a fist, as he started to question going to the tree house. He shook off his uneasiness and knocked. He heard yelling before the door flung open, revealing Eleanor, who was wearing her spring green flower jammies.

"Can I come in?" Alvin asked her, already starting to enter their house. She nodded before moving to the side and closing the door.

She had followed him before she questioned him, clearly suspicious, "Ok Alvin, what do you want?"

"I don't want anything." He told her as he plopped onto the couch, exhausted.

Eleanor opened her mouth to say something, but another voice cut in before she could, "Who is it Ellie?" Jeanette entered the room before noticing Alvin on the couch, scrolling through his phone.

"Alvin, how may we help you?" She asked him sweetly, slightly confused as to why he was over so late at night.

"I don't need any help." He looked at her, noticing she was in her purple footie. An awkward silence fell over the group as Alvin continued to scroll through his phone.

"You girls will never guess what happened today!" Brittany's voiced boomed through the treehouse. She entered the room, also in her pajamas. She spotted Alvin on the couch and turned towards her sisters.

"What does he want?"

"I don't want anything! I was just hoping we could hang out for a bit." He exclaimed in anger, rolling his eyes, hoping his point had finally gotten across.

"Um, ok then, how was your day?" Jeanette asked him hoping to spark a conversation.

"Next question." He was still on his phone, scrolling through his feed. The tension in the air was increasing by the second.

"Where are Simon and Theodore?"

"Next question."

"Oh, um…" She trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Oh, Brittany, what were you going to say?" He looked towards her as he put his phone in his pocket. She looked confused for a second before a wave of excitement came over her face. She started talking about her day, which lead to Eleanor and Jeanette talking about how their days played out.

They were laughing about something when Eleanor felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She looked towards Alvin before muttering, "Oh… So that's why you came over."

"Well, what is it?" Brittany asked her, sending a suspicious look towards Alvin.

"He had a fight with his brothers," She looked towards him, "They want to know where you are."

"Don't tell them I'm here!"

"Too late. They're on their way over." She lifted her phone up to show the text she just sent before looking towards her sisters, who seemed to be extremely confused. She didn't blame them; she was confused herself. He quickly jumped up and darted out of the room towards the door. He flung the door open, not bothering to shut the door, and started running down the stairs. He ran into someone and groaned, already knowing who he had ran into. He tried to walk past them as if nothing happened, but felt himself being held back from doing so.

"What is it?"

"We need to talk." Simon told him sternly. Alvin tried to walk past him again, but was kept from doing do again.

"About what?"

You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"What makes you say that?"

"The fact you are still trying to pass me." Simon told him confidently. Alvin groaned before turning around and heading back up the stairs. The girls were standing there, listening to their conversation curiously. After a fight, the brothers usually ignored each other for a bit before it blew over, nothing more to it. But this time, Alvin came over to hide from his brothers and tried to run when they came. They found this _very_ odd.

"Fine. What about it?" He played dumb again as if it had worked before.

"The note Brittany mentioned. What did it say?"

"The note doesn't have anything to do with it." He lied.

"Then explain your reaction at the dinner table."

"It reminded me of something else."

"What did it remind you of?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Realizing he was getting nowhere with Alvin, Simon groaned, his frustration quickly building.

"I don't care if…" Alvin's phone buzzed, interrupting Simon. He hesitantly pulled his phone out as his eyes widened as he realized something. He was late. He put his phone away before looking towards his brothers. Simon was still looking at him while Theodore stared at Alvin, taking note of his suddenly jittery behavior.

"I got to go." Alvin told them before darting out the door. Simon grabbed his arm and yanked him back, causing Alvin to panic. If he didn't meet Spike, he wouldn't be sure what Spike was going to do. He looked toward Simon before retracting his arm.

"Let go of me!" He screamed at him, finally getting loose. He bolted away before anyone could do anything, leaving the others in a state of shock. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. He ran down the stairs, not bothering to catch his breath, and starting heading toward the school.

* * *

When he finally arrived at the school, he slowed down, panting slightly. He looked around, but found he couldn't see anyone. Deciding to look around a bit, he started going around to the back of the school. He checked the time again and slightly quickened his pace, despite the dread that was growing inside him. After a little bit more scanning the area, he spotted a dark figure leaning against a wall.

He walked toward it, shaking slightly. He hoped the pitch-black night hide it well, though. The figures head turned his direction and started walking towards him.

"You're late." Spike spoke gruffly, causing Alvin to step back.

"I was busy trying to keep my meetings with _you_ a secret." Alvin spoke, looking Spike dead in the eye. Before he could process what was happening, he felt himself get struck. He turned his head back toward Spike, clutching his cheek.

"What was that for?!"

"Your excuses. Next time, show up on time!" Spike told him harshly, but acted as if it was nothing.

"So I can get smacked? Sounds like fun." Alvin countered, sarcasm apparent in his voice. He felt pain in his nose and let out a yelp of pain. He looked toward Spike to see him unbaling his fist before he put his hand to his nose, which had blood gushing from it. He covered his nose with his sleeve, covering it with blood. He took a step back before doing the only thing that seemed logical to him; he ran.

He darted from Spike, no direction or place in mind. He knew Spike was going to follow him, but Derek did too and he never got caught by him. He panted, feeling his heart thumping in his chest. He turned around and quickened his pace, seeing how close Spike was to catching up to him. He took notice of a tree and rerouted himself. He ran towards the tree, which was located in the middle of the school's outdoor lunchroom, and quickly climbed it. As soon as he reached to top, he relaxed and leaned against one of the branches, panting. After a few seconds, something made contact with his side, causing him to fall backwards and onto the ground. Pain searing through his back as he tried to stand up and run, but found himself leaning against the tree for support.

"Do that again and I'll beat your brothers to bloody pulps!" Alvin paused, fear plastering his face as Spike approached him. He felt himself get lifted off the ground and braced himself, already knowing what was going to happen. He was right, because a few seconds later he was shoved against the wall once more. He screamed in pain and closed his eyes, trying to block out the pain.

"Do you ever do anything besides this?" Alvin asked, trying to cover his fear with attitude. It didn't work, the shakiness of his voice giving his emotions off.

"You mean like this?" Spike slowly moved his hand up towards Alvin's neck. Alvin, feeling Spike moving his hand upward, became alarmed and began to slightly panic. He felt Spike's cold, callused hands continue to slowly make their way up. Alvin felt his hands rest on his neck for a second before he pushed down slightly.

* * *

Alvin woke up and looked around, lightheaded and confused. His head pounded as he slowly stood up, his legs shaking as he did so. His breathing was raspy and labored as he started walking towards the front of the school. _What am I even doing here,_ he thought as he felt a water droplet hit his forehead.

That's when it hit him. Everything came rushing back in a wave of emotions. He looked around, alarmed. After examining the area for a bit, he concluded Spike wasn't around anymore and let out a relieved sigh. He whipped out his phone and checked the time, his eyes widened as he took off towards his house. He ignored the fact he was already fighting for breath as he continued running towards his house. The rain fell and soaked his skin as he continued running towards his house.

He didn't stop until he reached his house, his determination flaring in his eyes and drowning everything else out. When he finally arrived, he stopped and slowed down. He slowly walked towards the door, coughing and panting in the process. He attempted to turn the shiny brass knob, but his hand couldn't grip the soaking wet doorknob.

He lifted his hand from the knob and brought it to the center of the door. He hastily knocked, wrapping his arms around himself as he started shivering slightly. He heard nothing and was about to go through the window when the door opened. He shielded his eyes from the blinding light as he quickly entered the house. He heard the door close behind him as he leaned back onto it and slowly slid down to the floor, ignoring the pain in his back. He continued to pant and cough as everyone ran up to him. He felt their eyes on him as he slowly stood up, leaning against the wall for support.

"Alvin!" Despite the fact he was soaking wet, he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and pull him away from the wall. He pushed Theodore off him as the floor started to spin.

"Get off me!" He screamed at him, his throat sore, his voice cracking. He shivered as he wrapped his arms around himself.

"Alvin, that's no way to speak to your brother. He's just glad you're ok." Dave told him. Alvin scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Simon examined him for a few seconds before addressing him, "You are okay, right Alvin?"

"Of course." He said, pushing past him.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"To my room." His voice cracked again as he leaned against the wall once again, his headache now gone but his vertigo remaining. Everyone watched as he broke out into another coughing fit before turning to head up the stairs. As he was walking up the stairs, he felt a tug on his arm. He turned around, his sapphire-blue eyes met the eyes of pink clad best friend.

"Where are you going? You owe us an explanation." She declared as she put her hands on her hips.

"For what?" He asked with annoyance evident in his voice.

"For coming home at 12:45!"

"It's Friday so why does it matter?"

"Because something's been bothering you all day." Jeanette spoke up, walking towards him.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He told them crossing his arms.

"Really, Alvin, that's what you're going with?" Eleanor asked him from her spot next to Theodore.

"What else am I supposed to say?" Alvin asked them as his eyes started bouncing towards the stairs.

"You could just tell us what's wrong." Theodore piped up, staring at him intently before noticing something. "Alvin, have you been crying?"

"No! Why would you say that?" He asked, unwrapping his arms from around himself, finally starting to warm up.

"Because of the tear stains on your cheeks" Simon testified as he inspected Alvin. He spotted a few things out of the usual. Alvin was unusually pale, as if he'd just seen a ghost, and his eyes were bloodshot. His voice didn't help anything. He was still very hoarse, his voice occasionally cracking. He was still panting heavily, which was confusing him. Alvin was extremely athletic; he should've been able to catch his breath by now.

Overall, he was quickly becoming very worried for his little brother.

"That doesn't mean I was crying." Alvin exclaims in a hopeless attempt to defend himself. Everyone eyed him. "Okay, maybe a little." Everyone's eyes stayed on him as they continued to stare him down. "Okay, maybe I did, but who cares?"

"Who cares? Alvin, you hardly ever cry!" Simon exclaimed as he advanced towards his brother. Alvin became slightly intimidated as he took a step back. Everyone took notice of this but didn't say anything.

"So. Your point is?" Alvin inquired him. Simon groaned at his brother's stubbornness.

"Why were you crying?" Jeanette questioned him as she put her hand on his shoulder. This was intended to be an act of comfort, but Alvin didn't see it that way as he jerked his shoulder away and backed away from her.

"Why do you care?" He shot at them, fear starting to bubble inside of him for the millionth time that night. He had to get out of here soon.

"Because you've been acting weird pretty much all day." Eleanor stated as she took notice of his eyes darting around the place.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He told them, resulting in a series of groans from everyone. Why was he so stubborn?

Seeing that they were getting nowhere with Alvin, Dave stepped in, "How about we all just go to bed?" He proposed before addressing Alvin, "Alvin, you're grounded."

"What! Why?"

"Because, Alvin, you didn't think to come home until midnight. We were worried sick!"

"Whatever." Alvin felt his phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out.

 _Same time tomorrow, Twerp!_ He tensed up and shoved his phone back in his pocket before looking towards the stairs. He bit his lip before shoving past everyone, ignoring their puzzled looks. He felt his eyes burn at the thought of doing the same thing tomorrow.

"Alvin, Alvin wait!" He didn't bother turning around; why would he? They were just causing him even more stress. He ran up the stairs, not stopping until he reached his bedroom. He slammed the door behind him, causing a slightly echo throughout the otherwise quiet house.

Not bothering to put on his pajamas, he flopped on his bed and let out a sigh. Why him? He knows he only did what he did tonight to show what he was capable of, Spike told him that, but why? What could he possibly have done? He hasn't even seen this kid before today! He let out another sigh and shut his eyes, finding peace in the darkness. His peace was interrupted by his phone.

 _Tell anyone, and I'll do the same to your brothers!_ He groaned and shut his phone off. He was being blackmailed. How did he get himself into this? What was he going to do? He heard footsteps nearing the room, but ignored them and continued to think. He suddenly remembered something and felt his fist clench.

Dave grounded him. He comes home with tearstains; soaking wet, and he gets grounded! Sure, they didn't know what happened, but they could've inferred he was already having a bad night. Now, he can't even leave his room for well, he doesn't even know how long.

He felt the day's events catch up to him as his muscles relaxed. As his eyes slowly started to close, he could hear the bathroom sink shutting off in the background. He curled himself into a ball and with his worries on his mind, he drifted into a restless sleep.

 **That's it guys. Hope you enjoyed! Tell me your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, anything. Even if they are bad. I know it's not as impressive as the first one, but I still worked really hard on it, especially with all the changes I made to this. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!**

 **Peace Out!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey guys! It's been so long! Sorry about lack of updates, but things have been crazy lately. With this chapter, I didn't have much time to proof-read and to make it sound better, seeing as it's Christmas. And in my house, Christmas equals chaos. On another note, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**_

* * *

Why so soon? Why did the world hate him so that it was already here? Why did it have to be Monday?! Monday, the day he's been dreading all weekend. The day he was convinced was going to cause certain death. He was so nervous about ditching, not that he hadn't before, but he knew he didn't need additional stress from Dave.

Everyone knew he hated Monday's, he always has, but instead of hating them because of the long, boring days, he hated them because of the torture they cause.

He wished he could just crawl under the covers and never move, but it was already too late for that. He was already sitting in his classroom, nervously twiddling his fingers in his lap. His eyes were glued to the door, occasionally scanning the rest of the room. He heard voices in the background slowly raising, but he didn't think anything of it. I mean, why would he, everyone was talking.

"Alvin!" He snapped his eyes to his blue-clad brother, who was staring back at him with an unreadable expression.

"What is it?" He snarled, not even noticing the rest of the conversation among all the chipmunks fall silent. The tardy bell blasted throughout the school, echoing in the halls as people's hands flew over their ears. He felt a wave of peace rush through him as he let out relieved sigh. A few people cast him a weird look, but he didn't care. Maybe Spike wasn't going to show up today.

"Okay class, today I will bore you with yet another history lesson." She stated in her usual monotone way. Everyone, excluding Simon and Jeanette, let out a groan. Miss Smith droned on, sending half of the class to sleep, which was nothing out of the usual. That's how things were, normal, until about halfway through class.

Someone pounded on the door as everyone's attention quickly turned to the door. The door flung open, revealing Spike, who was wearing a smirk on his face as he entered the classroom. Alvin's breath hitched as his peace quickly turned to chaos.

"Spike, what a surprise." Miss Smith said dully. Spike walked in and stalked his way to the back, shoving Alvin with his foot. Seeing as he was caught off-guard, Alvin toppled out of his seat. He felt his eyes sting in pain and embarrassment as he picked himself off the ground. He slid back into his seat and sighed, knowing he couldn't do a thing about Spike. He looked at both of his brothers, who were staring back at him. Yup, he couldn't do a thing.

"So, Spike, what took you so long?" Miss Smith asked him, already preparing herself to give up her afternoon.

"No reason. Just didn't feel like coming." He explained, plopping himself and his backpack in his seat.

"Well, detention." She told him, surprising no one. They already knew that was coming. As the class went on, Alvin's thoughts went haywire. His hands became clammy as he felt his heart pounding in his chest. He felt like pulling his hair out, but you couldn't tell by looking at him. He appeared to be normal, calm even.

Everything about his predicament bothered him. How he was never safe, how his brothers were never truly safe, and, something that was really making him think, was how he just let this guy do this. Harass him, tear down his reputation and confidence, make him want to die every morning he wakes up in an aching pain.

" _Don't fight back, you deserve this!"_

" _They don't care about you. They never did!"_

" _You think your worth something. That's so cute."_

" _Maybe I should just do everyone a favor and kill you, but where's the fun in that?"_

" _I'll kill you if you tell!"_

" _Tonight was a fraction of what I can do. If you tell anyone you'll find out everything I can do. And trust me, it isn't pretty."_

Spike's voice rang in his head, constantly reminding him the last few days. The last few, agonizing days. He rest his elbows on the desk, clenching his fists and bringing his to the sides of his skull. With any hesitation, he starting desperately pounding his head, trying to get Spike's taunting voice out of his head. He tried a little harder, pounding the sides of his head harder, but found himself unsuccessful.

"Alvin!" He instantly stopped pounding his head and looking up, finding himself staring into the eyes of a very annoyed, but confused looking, Miss Smith.

"Yes, Miss Smith?" He addressed her, feeling his cheeks heat up as he noticed everyone's eyes were on him.

"What ended in 1986?" She questioned him, entirely aware of the fact he wasn't paying any attention. He wracked his brain for an answer before he smirked, knowing his answer.

"Easy," He started, receiving curious looks from everyone, "1985." A few snickers were heard from the back of the classroom. Alvin smirked to himself.

"Why do I even try with you?" She mumbled before turning back around. Alvin smirked once more, content with his answer. His phone buzzed in his pocket as he slowly reached for it, hoping Miss Smith hadn't heard it.

"Alvin! For the last time, no texting in the classroom!" Alvin flinched but pulled out his phone nonetheless. Expecting it to be a text from one of his friends, he didn't bother reading the contact.

' _That answer was so stupid! Can you get any dumber?'_ His smirk dropped to the floor as he stared at the text for a few more seconds.

"I totally agree." He declared, slipping his phone back into his pocket. He smiled once more as he did so; he wasn't going let a single comment bother him.

* * *

The dismissal bell rang, allowing everyone to roam free for the next seven minutes. Alvin slowly packed his things, reluctantly making his way out of the classroom, not even noticing, or caring about, the worried looks he was getting from his friends and siblings.

When Alvin reached the hallway, he broke into a run as he raced to his locker. He flung open his locker and grabbed his things for his next two classes. He slammed his locker shut, attempting to get back to the classroom without any run-ins with anyone, but he quickly found himself being stopped by the one person he wanted to avoid. Spike.

He was expecting the usual pin-against-the-wall routine, but was surprised when he only got a piece of notebook paper shoved into his hand. He stared at the notebook paper in his hand, completing whether or not he should read it or not. He knew he should be uncrumpling the paper and reading its contents, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He stuffed it into his pocket, making a mental note to throw it away later.

He let out a small groan as he dragged himself back to the classroom. Lost in thoughts, he didn't realize he was heading straight towards someone. He didn't notice them until he rammed straight into them, falling backwards in the process. He attempted to ignore the pain that shot up his back and ran through the rest of his body, clenching his eyes and fists, but found himself letting out a small groan.

He opened his eyes to find his brothers peering over him, reaching down to help him up. He sat up and noticed that Jeanette and Eleanor were doing the same thing as his brothers, except with Brittany. Brittany! He quickly hopped up, his vision slightly blurred as he stumbled a bit, and took a step back.

He closed his eyes and shook his head, attempting to clear his vision. It worked as he opened his eyes, his vision crystal clear once more. He reverted his eyes back to his brothers, meeting the mixed emotions of everyone in his group.

He noticed Brittany take a few steps towards him, her nostrils flared, as he prepared himself for the rant that was sure to come over 'wrinkling her skirt.' Despite the fact not much was going to happen, his mind went into panic mode as his hands flew in front of him for defense. Everyone, including Brittany, paused, confused about his reaction.

"Are you guys okay?" Jeanette asked them, eyeing Alvin closely.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Brittany answered, reaching to grab her stuff off the floor. Alvin didn't say anything, but he mimicked her action as he started picking his stuff off the floor.

"Alvin?"

"Fine." He answered, picking his last book off of the floor. He was feeling quite vulnerable, just hanging around in the open, so he pushed past them.

"Alvin, where are you going?" Simon asked him, his sapphire-blue eyes that matched Alvin's filled with concern.

"The classroom. Where else?" He questioned, still walking towards the classroom.

"Alvin, wait!" He heard someone call. He ignored them and continued walked, hastily opening the door and entering the room once more. A wave of relief washed over him as his untensed his muscles. He strode over to his desk as sat down, feeling something in his pocket. His eyebrows pulled together as he pulled the ball of paper out of his pocket. He stared at the paper for a few seconds before his eyes shot up and towards the trashcan. He aimed the ball of paper, careful to get the perfect angle. He threw it, pumping his fist in the air when it went it. Perfect shot.

His gang entered the classroom, the bell ringing as soon as he sat down. Alvin, suddenly realizing that he hadn't seen Spike come through the door, scanned the area for his attacker. Realizing Spike was late, he smiled to himself. At least he gets a small break.

"Okay class, pull out your homework from Friday." Everyone did so, including Alvin. Turns out homework makes an excellent distraction.

"You actually did your homework?" Miss Smith asked him skeptically. Everyone's eyes fell on him. His eyes widened at the newfound attention as his face became a light pink color. He wasn't even sure why he hated the attention so much, but he did. He always felt like they were staring him down, looking straight past his façade.

"Um…yeah." He stammered, slightly nervous. His just wished people would avert their eyes to something else, anything else.

"Well then, how about you do problem one on the board." She demanded. He would've retaliated, and he really did want to, but he knew that would draw in even more attention. He let out a groan as he grabbed his paper and started heading up to the board, ignoring the look everyone was sending him. He walked up to the board, his arm shaking slightly with nerves as he reached for the chalky writing tool.

" _That answer was so stupid! Can you get any dumber?"_

Spike's voice rang in his head as he lowered the chalk slightly. It wasn't that he was offended, he just feared the comments he'd get if he got this wrong. He couldn't get this wrong. Despite the fact Spike still hadn't shown up, he had a gut feeling that Spike would find out either way.

He brought the chalk to the board, feeling everyone's eyes burning holes into the back of his head. He slowly started transmitting the information from his paper to the board, praying as he did so.

He wrote his final answer on the board and circled it after a quick check. He basically threw the chalk back into the tray as he hurried back to his seat. He stared at his desk, wishing that people would just stop staring at him.

He hoped it was the right answer, but there was a little tug in the back of his mind saying otherwise, saying that he flunked it. As Miss Smith examined his answer and opened her mouth to speak, he mentally prepared himself for the letdown. And the comments.

"Good job, Alvin." Miss Smith told him, nodding her head at him in approval. She started continuing the lesson, which quickly got everyone's attention away from him. He put his arms on the desk and rested his head in them, but could still feel someone's eyes on him. He looked towards his brothers, who were still doing their work, then to the girls. Jeanette and Eleanor were paying attention, occasionally casting a glance his way, but Brittany's eyes were glued to him as she examined him.

His shifted, slightly uncomfortable. She took notice, but didn't say anything as she turned her attention towards Miss Smith, a look of confusion and bewilderment on her face. He finally allowed his mind to wander, seeing as he didn't care about anything being taught. After a few minutes, his thoughts starting going to where Spike might be. He let out a groan as a thought suddenly crossed his mind. He slowly sat up as his thoughts started surrounding the one thought.

Why did he let this kid have _so much_ power over him? Why couldn't he just march into that principal's office and report it?

He lowered his head once more as he came up with his answer. He didn't want to die. He didn't want his brothers to get hurt.

Twenty more minutes had past and class was going by like normal, half the class snoozing, the other half hastily taking notes. Yup, everything was normal.

"Can anyone tell me- "Miss Smith was caught off by the door flinging opened and smacking into the wall, putting a small dent in it. Spike entered the room, fuming, with…...a smirk? He glared at Alvin, fire in his eyes. Alvin resisted the urged to cringe under the murderous glare. He couldn't do that in front of everyone. No, that would give him away. So he took it, even glaring right back, knowing he was now deep in the doghouse.

Since he already had detention, Miss Smith didn't bother with him and let out a sigh. Spike made his way to the back, ignoring Alvin on his way, which Alvin was both thankful for and anxious about.

Alvin was exhausted from the night before, and it was definitely showing. He had tossed and turned throughout the entire night, waking up more tired than when he went to rest. His eyes slowly started to shut, so he rests his in on his arms and let them. Finally pushing his worries to the back of his mind, he allowed himself to sleep.

* * *

He jolted away and shot up in his seat. He looked around, noticing everyone piling out of the classroom. He didn't move, seeing as he already grabbed his things in advance. Feeling fatigued and lethargic, he looked towards the clock, deciding to see how long he was asleep for. It was only second period?!

He rested his arms in a crisscross pattern on his desk and rested his head in them. He found himself staring towards the hallway, which, quite frankly, seemed like a death wish now. He wished he never had to leave the security of the classroom. The only place he isn't hunted.

Alvin cringed, thinking back to how Spike looked at him when he returned to the classroom. The cold, menacing look that could pierce your soul. He wanted to find a way to stop this, but even _attempting_ would surely end in death. A slow, painful death.

He ignored everything around him as a peaceful bliss came over him. His eyelids felt like weights as they closed once more. His worries started to fade, along with his consciousness. He had almost engulfed himself in the land of the dark when the bell boomed throughout the school, startling him as he shot up once more.

He looked around, noticing everyone was in the room this time, including Spike.

Not interesting happened that class period. Everything and everyone was normal, including Alvin. The Alvin that annoyed Miss Smith to the brink of her sanity daily was back, which gave everyone very mixed emotions. His phone was vibrating the entire time, but he didn't pay any attention to it, knowing it would bring his good mood down once more.

When the bell _finally_ rang, everyone piled out of the classroom and swarmed the halls, all heading to different places. Chatter could be heard throughout the halls; gossip, school, hobbies, you name it. Alvin rushed to his locker, quickly pouring his supplies in his locker, which resulted in a sloppy jumble of things in his locker. He slammed his locker door shut, producing an echo throughout the halls. His stomach growled, reminding him that he had skipped breakfast.

He tried to wait for his brothers patiently, but that was quickly thrown out the door as an annoyed groan escaped his lips.

"Can you guys move a little quicker?! I'm getting hungry!" He exclaimed, his stomach growling once more, emphasizing his point.

"Well maybe if you hadn't slept in so late you would've had time to eat breakfast," Simon sassed, an agitated tone in his voice. Despite his irritation, it was nice to see his brother acting normal again. Well, as normal as Alvin gets.

Alvin's eyes darkened a shade, a scowl now on his lips. It only lasted a second before it disappeared like it never happened. They didn't know, he couldn't be angry. Simon was oblivious to his brief moment of anger, but Theodore wasn't as he tugged on Simon's shirt.

"What is it, Theodore?"

"Something happened to Alvin's eyes. They looked like they darkened a little…" Theodore trailed off, not quite sure how to react. Simon rolled his eyes and slammed his locker, opening his mouth to respond to his little brother.

Instead of a response, a small squeal came from Simon as Alvin continued to drag them down the hallway, completely abandoning the girls. He continued down the corridor, not even caring that Theodore was tripping over his own feet in a battle to stay caught up. His stomach was screaming, and he was finally going to shut it up.

He plopped down on the bench, Simon on his right, Theodore on his left. He flung his lunchbox open, hastily grabbing the first thing he saw. He brought the pear up to his lips, preparing himself to take a bite and fill the massive void in his stomach.

He heard people shuffling across him, but he paid no attention. He was about to take a bite when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He let out a sigh and put the juicy green fruit back in his lunchbox. He slowly pulled his phone out of his pocket, his uneasiness on his face.

' _Meet me in the front of the school.'_

He frowned and gulped, looking as the curious and disappointed eyes of his friends. Disappointed?

He slammed his lunchbox shut, his stomach telling him to do otherwise.

"I gotta go!" He yelled as he hopped down from the table. His stomach yearned for him to go back, but he ignored it as he continued to run towards the front of the school.

* * *

"What's wrong with him?" Brittany asked, watching him pass the tree in the middle of the lunchroom. They were eating outside today due to the wonderful weather.

"We don't know," Simon answered, turning his attention away from his brother, who was now turning a corner and disappearing from their sight.

"I don't get it. He's been acting weird since Friday. I'm not sure what could cause him to act so strange. I mean, first, he goes super quiet, then he skips lunch, then comes late to class." Simon voiced, bewildered. Everyone turned towards him in confusion.

With Alvin, he stated everything that could possibly be going on with him. _Everything._ There have been times everyone has wished he would just keep his problems to himself, but everyone knew it was just who he was. But now, he's not saying anything, and it's really bothering them. Especially something that would cause him to act so weird. Something that seemed so major.

When he started acting normal again earlier, everyone was relieved. But when he received that text at lunch and he started acting jittery again, they all became anxious once more.

"He's also been coming home late every night since," Theodore added.

"Hey, did you guys ever figure out what the note was about?" Brittany asked, deep in thought.

"No, he refuses to say anything."

"Yeah, whenever we asked he turns around and walks away," Theodore stated, adding to what Simon said.

"Anything else we need to know?" Jeanette asked, her eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"He came home really angry on Friday. It was kinda scary," Theodore stated, shuddering as he imagined the murderous look in Alvin's eye once more. The girls tilted their heads in confusion. Alvin got detention often, but didn't usually come home angry. That was, unless Derek came along.

They discussed the topic a bit more, everyone pitching in everything they knew.

"Maybe it's just another one of his schemes. He sure loves those." Brittany stated, crossing her arms. Everyone was about to answer when the bell chimed, interrupting their conversation.

"Maybe he'll be in the classroom," Eleanor stated, a small questioning tone in her voice.

They all shrugged and made their way out of the classroom.

* * *

"I'm sorry, I didn't know!" He screamed back, feeling his anxiety skyrocket. He felt something make impact with his cheek, causing him to take a step back. Tears pricked his eyes as he scanned the area, making sure no one was around.

"How did you not know?" Spike asked him, his tone threatening.

"You didn't tell me!"

"I sent a note. And a text. Did you even read them?" Spike asked as Alvin winced. He was so busted.

"No. I'm sorry, I won't do it again!" He felt pain shoot through his nose as a crimson liquid came gushing out.

"You better not! If you do it again, I'll make sure you don't live to do so!" Alvin backed away, just to have Spike advance towards him. His heart pounded in his chest as he struggled to breathe. Spike quickly grabbing him, his hands constricting Alvin's arms. Alvin shut his eyes and prepared himself for what was sure to follow. Only a couple seconds now.

 _Slam._

There it is. Usually he was fighting back or scream at his attacker, but this time he didn't. One, he couldn't draw attention to them or someone would find out. Two, he knew he was powerless here. So he just let it happen.

He felt himself drop as he hit the ground, landing awkwardly on his kneecap. He ignored the pain that seared up his leg and just sat there. He knew he couldn't run, seeing as that didn't go so well last time. He let out a defeated sigh as he felt pain shoot up his side, then his stomach, then his shin. He really wished Spike would just get bored already, but that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

Spike continued for a few more minutes, determined to get _something_ out of Alvin. Something more than a sigh. Eventually he gave up, knowing that lunch was almost over.

 _Next time, go harder on Alvin._ He mentally noted as he stared his victim down like a vulture on a dead carcass.

"Don't tell anyone, twerp." Spike command before walking away, presumably to wash the blood off his hands. Alvin sat there for a few more minutes, staring into space as he brought his knees to his chest and buried his head in them. He heard the bell ring, but it was distant as he continued to revel in his thoughts.

He was humiliated. Something he never thought he could be. He was always confident, not bother to be embarrassed or upset about how something went down, so this was new to him. He almost wished he could just run back home and refuse to come out until he could go off to college.

Pushing the idea out of his head, he stood up, quickly retracting his left leg. He leaned against the wall, his face slightly pale, his usually lively eyes bloodshot. He lowered his leg once more, flinching slightly but quickly putting it back down. Pain shot through his leg with every step he took, but he ignored it as he continued walking into the tall, dreaded building.

Realizing how late he was, he attempted to run to the classroom. About halfway through he had to stop, his leg about to give out under pressure. So he slowed to a speed walk, praying that the teacher didn't ask where he was. He arrived at the classroom door and reached to turn the knob when he noticed something in the glass of the door.

He still had blood coating his face.

He quickly turned around and darted away, this time ignoring his knee. He ran to the bathroom, using all his willpower to get through the increasing pain spreading throughout his body. When he entered the bathroom, he slammed the door shut behind him, hoping that no one else was in the bathroom. After a few seconds, he collapsed against the wall in exhaustion and agony.

He sat there for a few minutes, panting for longer than he usually would. His head pounded as a few tears squeezed past his defenses.

 _Why am I so weak_ , he thought, _anyone else could take this and be fine, but me? No. Here I am, sitting in a corner of a bathroom and being a huge baby._

He dragged himself back up, using the wall for support. He stayed there for a few seconds, taking in the stale, but peaceful, air of the restrooms. He made his way to the sinks, turning on the cold water. He cupped his hands and placed them in the water, watching the refreshing liquid fill up in his hands.

He splashed his face, the cooling sensation calming his senses. He scrubbed his face, trying to get the dry blood from under his nose. It took a couple minutes of hard scrubbing, but he eventually did it. He grabbed a couple paper towels, seeing as one was _never_ enough, and started patting at his face.

He threw the towels away, his face still damp. He turned to leave, but caught a glance of himself in the mirror. He had a bruise forming around his nose, but that could be easily passed off as running into something. His face was pale and his eyes were still bloodshot and puffy, making Alvin frown. His face wore a scowl and his eyes were missing their mischievous glint.

He let out a sigh and hopped down, letting out a yelp of pain when he hit the ground. He clutched his knee in agony before putting it back down. He let out another sigh before groaning and opening the door to the bathroom. He quickly transitioned to a sprint, not wanting to be any later than he was.

He quickly arrived at the door to the classroom. He hesitantly reached for the doorknob before he paused. He quickly reached for his hat and tilted it down, covering his face. He opened the door to the classroom and quickly looked down, closing the door behind him with his foot.

He dashed to his seat, feeling everyone's eyes on him. Especially Spike's.

"Alvin, what a surprise." Miss Smith stated in a dull tone, just as she did with Spike earlier in the day. Alvin didn't bother to say anything, but tried to come up with an excuse. No matter how hard he tried to find an excuse, he couldn't focus enough to do so.

"So, Alvin, where were you?" She asked, knowing she was about to give out another detention.

No response.

"Alvin, where were you?" She repeated in a more impatient tone.

"Nowhere. I was nowhere." He responded, resting his head on his arms.

"Well, detention." She told him. No surprise to anyone. Alvin groaned, but didn't say anything. Suddenly, his breath hitched as he remembered something. Something rather important.

 _Spike got detention too._

* * *

 ** _So, how'd I do. I think I did okay. It was a little rushed, but I was trying to make sure I didn't spend 2,000 words per class period because, quite frankly, that'd be really boring. Ignoring my poor chapter, I hope you enjoyed and are having a very merry christmas!  
_**

 ** _Merry Christmas!_**

 ** _Peace Out._**


	4. Chapter 4

_Ring!_

The bell screamed throughout the school, dismissing class for the day. It continued to scream for a few seconds, assuring it got it's point across, before abruptly stopping.

Everyone hurried out of the classrooms, flooding out of them like a tsunami flooding a household. Few people stayed back, and those people were either going to an after-school club or detention. For Alvin, it was the latter.

He slumped in his desk, his foot tapping the side of his desk leg, his pencil bouncing up and down on the desk. He had pulled out a homework assignment, deciding to make the most of his time. Not like there was anything else for him to do anyway.

 _Write an emotion, heartfelt poem about your feeling using descriptive words._

He pushed this aside once more; he still had plenty of time. He pulled out his history homework, deciding to settle for that. His pencil bobbed back and forth as he wrote, copying answers from his textbook to his paper.

It was an ordinary day in detention. Only three people sat in Miss Smith's detention room, and that included Miss Smith herself. She was sitting at her desk in the front of the classroom, keeping a close eye over the two troublemakers in front of her.

 _Buzz._

"Alvin! No texting during detention!" Miss Smith yelled, just like always. I'd be odd if she wasn't yelling at him.

He silently pulled out his phone, refusing to pull another ignorance card.

 _'Can't show your face? Good. No one wants to see that anyway.'_ The text taunted him, referring to the fact he still hadn't bothered with pulling his cap up. He could almost hear Spike voice sneering at him. He honestly just forgot to tilt his cap back up.

He looked up, noticing a tan Easter basket in front of him, Miss Smith being its holder. Already knowing what she wanted, he reluctantly placed his phone in the basket, careful to make sure it was turned off.

 _Silence._

It was completely silent, except for the clock ticking with every second that passed. You would occasionally hear footsteps from the hall, but nothing more than that.

 _Stillness._

Nothing happened. Nothing was going to happen. Nothing except the occasional tapping of a pencil or foot.

 _Peace._

The gentle rays of the sun streamed through the blinds, the birds singing a beautiful melody outside. Water ran from the gutters from a recent shower. Everything was so peaceful, so perfect.

 _Protection._

Spike couldn't do anything. Not with the teacher watching. Not unless he wanted to be caught.

* * *

The bell sounded, shattering everything once present in the room. Miss Smith looked up, her usual dull look in her eyes.

"Go. Get out!" She quickly threw the basket on her desk, allowing Alvin to grab his phone. He quickly snatched it, checking to make sure she didn't go through it or anything. She rolled her eyes at this but didn't say anything. He jumped back down, going to gather his things.

Big mistake.

His knee collapsed under his weight, searing with pain in the process. He leaned against her desk, his face pale, just managing to keep himself from falling.

"Alvin? Are you okay over there?" Miss Smith asked, a tone of boredom in her voice.

He didn't respond but quickly rushed to his desk to grab his things. He cast a glance towards Spike in the process.

The teen was smirking at him, enjoying every ounce of his pain.

Damn, this kid was twisted. Alvin ignored him, running out of the room with his things scooped in his arms. He rushed to his locker, ignoring his knee once more, and poured his things in his locker, grabbing a few things he'd need.

He whirled around, meeting a face full of black jeans and leather boots. He looked up nervously, praying it wasn't who he already knew it was.

 _Amber eyes._

He attempted to get around him but was stopped. Alvin wasn't going to lie when he said he was slightly surprised spike stopped him; why wouldn't he be? They were in the middle of the school hallway, where a couple of teachers and the principle were still present.

In a sudden burst of confidence, he rushed past him, even going as far as nudging him to the side. He heard Spike growl in anger, multiple times actually, but paid no attention. He reached the doors to the school, the cool air smacking him in the face.

The leaves were falling, different shades of orange, red, and yellow falling into piles on the ground, some being blown away in the cool autumn breeze. The sun shined bright above them, casting down its rays, barely do anything to warm the chilly atmosphere. He heard a dog barking in the distance, followed by another bark from a different dog and a cat's screeching.

He paid no attention to the beauty of nature surrounding him as he ran to the plaza in the front of the school. Trees and bushes lined the outside of the plaza and the sidewalk, which covered the ground in dead leaves.

He made it to the sidewalk, about to turn the corner when he heard the door fling open behind him. His eyes widened as he jumped, startled. Without thinking of the consequences, he ducked into the nearest bush, which was lining a brick wall. He pushed himself as far back as he could go, branches and twigs poking at his sides.

The footsteps got closer, booming in Alvin's head with each step closer they got. He heard the clatter of chains to his right, the only other noise being his quick, deep breathing. He held his breath, making sure his breathing didn't give him away.

He heard an angry growl that made him immediately regret his decision. But it was too late now. He could see bits and pieces of black through the leaves, letting him know Spike was directly in front of him.

The air was so tense it was suffocating, every little movement startling him. His wrapped his arms around his knees and pushed himself farther against the cool brick wall. The sticks continued to poke him with every movement, which quickly became itchy and annoying

He could feel his breath, hot and steamy, through his jeans, reaching his bare leg. A breeze drifted by him, causing him to shiver. He heard Spike's feet shuffle a little closer. He managed to gather just enough guts to peek around the bush. Spike was hunched over the bush he was in as if he could sense his presence too.

A few seconds late he heard a mumble, which he had to strain his ears to hear.

"He's going to get it when I find him," Alvin froze, but relaxed as he heard the chains become more and more distant. He stayed still for a few more minutes, not daring to move from his hiding spot. After a few minutes, he came out, positive Spike was gone.

Deciding to do more than stand around, he broke into a full-on sprint to his house, just in case Spike came back. His knee throbbed, his legs ached, and his chest burned, but he kept running. He wouldn't dare stop running now. Not until he was safe.

Safe.

The almost sounded like a miracle now. Something that rarely happens, but something you're really thankful for.

* * *

He reached his door, no hesitation to turn the knob and jump through the door. He quickly slammed the door behind him using his foot. An echo emitted throughout the house in waves, each one quieter than the last. He heard footsteps but disregarded them as he leaned against the door and slowly slid down it.

He panted, the burning sensation in his chest refusing to let up. His heart pounded in his chest as Alvin took off his cap, quickly running his hand through his damp hair before popping the cap back on. He stood up, his legs feeling like Jello, but he could still stand fine. That didn't mean he was going to go run a marathon, it just meant he could drag himself to bed.

He wiped his forehead, wiping away the beads of sweat running down his face. He took in a few more gulps of air before looking up, noticing he had an audience.

"Hey guys!" He greeted in a peppy tone, but still panting slightly.

"Alvin, are you alright?" They were worried. It was obvious he was running from _something._ What he was running from they weren't sure.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Are you su- "

"I said I'm fine! Drop it!" He snapped, taking a step forward. He pushed past his brothers, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. He wasn't even sure why he was so angry, he just was.

He glanced at his brothers, who were watching him leave. Dave was now peeking his head out of the office, a lost look on his face. Everyone shared look as Alvin stormed up the stairs, rolling their eyes in annoyance. Well, Simon and Dave did, Theodore didn't.

Theodore being Theodore, he decided to follow Alvin, ignoring his older brother's protests. Theodore wandered into the bedroom, scanning the area for his red-clad older brother.

Theodore found him almost instantly, laying on his bed, rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Theodore tilted his head in confusion, deciding to speak up.

"Alvin?" Alvin jumped, startled by the surprise visit.

"Hey Theodore, what's up?" Alvin asked in a laid-back tone. His usual tone.

"Well, you've been acting kinda of weird, so I was making sure you were okay," Alvin couldn't help but smile at his innocent, gullible little brother.

"I'm fine, Theo," Alvin lied, a small edge in his voice. He averted his eyes from the ceiling to Theodore with what seemed like a pleading look in his eye.

His way of silently asking for help.

Alvin and Theodore locked eyes, Theodore's concerned and confused, Alvin's an unreadable jumble of emotions. It only lasted a second, but it felt like much longer. Alvin broke the gaze, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a folder.

"What are you working on?" Alvin turned towards him, flipping onto his stomach, already knowing what Theodore was thinking.

"Math. Already finished history and science in detention," Alvin stated, not looking up from his work as his pencil bobbed back and forth, telling Theodore he was writing an answer of some kind. Alvin didn't need to look up, he already knew Theodore was surprised; him doing his homework was unheard of, especially voluntarily.

The air was becoming awkward very quickly, for Theodore anyway, so Theodore decided to say something, "Well, I'll leave you to it then,"

Alvin said nothing in response but nodded his head in acknowledgment. Theodore heard a faint buzzing sound, but thought nothing of it and continued walking.

* * *

 _'I will find you, and when I do, you're dead. You hear me? And seeing as you didn't bother showing up earlier, bring some cash while you're at it.'_

Alvin groaned, letting his head fall between his elbows, which were propped up so Alvin could rest his head on them. The hits just keep on coming. What next, Spike goes after his brothers too?

 _I really hope that doesn't happen…_

He was glad that out of the three of them he had to deal with Spike. Sure, Spike annoyed him to no end, but his brothers would crack under pressure. Theodore would snap and spill within the first hour, while it's not hard to get anything out of Simon. In addition, neither could lie well. They stutter too much.

Pushing the thought aside, he continued trying to focus on the problems in front of him. He was laying on his stomach, kicking his right foot in the air, leaving the other to rest. His head rested in his hands as he scrunched his eyebrows, still struggling to concentrate.

He really was trying to. He just couldn't focus on the words and jumble of numbers in front of him. It all seemed to become a blob as his mind wandered to more important topics. Well, more nerve-racking topics.

Things such as where he would get the money, and how much. Things such as what would happen if he didn't bring it. Things such as what would happen if he told anyone…

The last two made chills run up his spine, knowing he couldn't do either.

He heard a knock on the bedroom door, but ignored it, seeing as this was a shared bedroom. They didn't need to know to enter their own room, shouldn't that be obvious? The door was left wide open, you think that'd be enough of a hint.

He didn't have any money. That's where the problem came in. He spent it all last week on a skateboard he now regrets buying.

 _Should've done more chores._

"Alvin?"

"Yes Theodore?"

"Um, it's Simon," That snapped Alvin out of his thoughts as he turned towards the voice, where, sure enough, Simon was standing, a puzzled look on his face.

 _Stupid._

"Oh, um, whoops," Simon cocked an eyebrow at him, expecting him to say more, but soon grasped that he wasn't going to.

"Alvin, what did you say to Theodore?" Alvin looked back down at his paper, quickly jotting down an answer before responding to his brother.

"I didn't say anything,"

"You have to have said something. What else could cause Theodore to go so silent?" Alvin set down his pencil, his attention now on his brother.

"I don't know! What makes you think it was me?" Alvin asked, agitation with a small trace of curiosity in his voice.

"Because he was fine until he came up here," Simon stated, crossing his arms.

"Ugh, I'll go talk to him," Alvin declared, hoping down from the bed. He flinched a little, a small but sharp pain in his knee, but it was nowhere near as bad as before. He quickly left the room, leaving Simon almost no time to protest, not that he was going to anyway.

 _If I were Theodore, where would I be?_

The kitchen! Theodore binge eats when he's upset, which is probably where his chubbiness came from.

 _Food._

Just the thought of it made his stomach growl, a large pit forming in it. His stomach started to ache, but not too bad. Not yet anyways.

He descended down the stairs, almost tripping over his own feet. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he made his way to the kitchen, where, surely enough, Theodore was sitting, a bag of cookies in hand.

"Hey Theo," Alvin greeted, a smirk on his face, pain in his eyes. His stomach hurt so much. Seeing him, Theodore beamed.

"Hey Alvin!" Alvin's stomach growled once more, the ache getting increasingly worse. He clutched his stomach, completely forgetting about the large amounts of food surrounding him.

Theodore didn't say anything but held out the bag for him. Alvin looked at him, hesitant for some reason, a reason Theodore didn't know. He slowly reached into the bag, as if it was a trap, prepared to retract it at any second.

His hand finally made contact with one of the cookies. One of the chocolatey, fist-sized cookies. He slowly curled his fingers around one, pulling it out even slower than he put it in. Theodore noticed it, but said nothing, thinking it was just his imagination.

Alvin, realizing he had the okay to eat the cookie, quickly scarfed it down. Theodore watched him and chuckled, offering him another, which Alvin quickly snatched.

His stomach growled once more, making both boys chuckle. That's how it went for a while. The boys absentmindedly ate cookies, Alvin making sarcastic remarks, Theodore defending whatever the remark was about. This was just how their relationship worked.

"We're out of cookies," Theodore announced, pulling his crumb covered hand out of the bag. Theodore crumpled the bag into a small ball on his lap.

"Oh well, I'm full anyway," Theodore smiled at him.

"Oh, I forgot, I got to go!" Theodore sent him a small wave, giving him no time to react before he was gone. Alvin, left with nothing to do, looked outside, curious about if it was getting dark yet.

The sky had darkened a few shades, the sky now an array of orange and yellow. He peeped over towards the clock.

 _5:23._

Still pretty early. What could he do until 10? An idea popped in his head, an idea he quickly agreed to. He dashed up the stairs, the pain in his knee faint. His knee had almost recovered, but not completely.

He ran to his room, taking notice of both his brother's presence. They were both sitting in their desks, facing each other, Simon speaking while Theodore stayed silent. Seeing as Simon had his whiteboard out and covered in different equations, he could only assume Simon was tutoring him.

He ignored them, scanning the room for something. He searched the shelves, the toybox, even the windowsills, but had no luck. Refusing to let himself give up, he searched some more, double checking the area, but found himself failing once more.

Deciding to give himself a small break, he made his way over to his bed, practically collapsing on it in exhaustion. He rolled on his side and found himself staring at the nightstand. That's when he found it, round and pink, staring at him.

 _Stupid._

How did he not spot that? It was right in front of his face the whole time! He reached towards it, pushing his exhaustion aside once more.

He brought it to his ear and shook it, frowning at the lack of a rattle. He heard something small move inside it, but it was only one, and quite frankly one wasn't going to help him. He tried again, hoping his ears were tricking him but got the same results. He jumped off his bed, piggy bank in his hands.

He walked over to their toy chest, flipping the pig onto it's back, turning the bottom in an attempt to open it. He turned the plastic, quarter-sized circle at the bottom, but found himself struggling to pop it out.

Eventually, he got it open, smiling triumphantly at himself. He flipped it over, a single penny falling out. What was he going to do with a penny?

He was scared, and that was saying the least. He's ignored Spike multiple times over the day, sure, he didn't know about the meeting after detention, but looking back now, he's pretty sure it was an unspoken agreement.

Tonight might actually be the night he dies.

He stood there, contemplating what he should do. The more he stood there, the more something started bubbling inside him. Every ounce of fear and misery quickly becoming something else. Something much harder to hide.

Anger. Rage. They both burned inside him, coursing through his veins. His face became red as his fists clenched, turning a ghostly white. He trembled in anger, feeling a strong urge to throw something. His attention quickly averted to the glass piggy bank in his hands.

Without even thinking, he threw it as hard as he possibly could against the wall, hearing it shatter and watching the glass shards fall to the floor like flies. He heard a startled yelp escape Theodore but ignored it. He was still angry, pacing the room and mumbling random words his brothers couldn't decipher.

His anger slowly started faded out, every emotion from the past few days coming back with twice the fury. His brothers were both trying to talk to them, but he ignored them. He heard footsteps coming from up the hall, booming in his head.

"What was that?!" Came the panicked voice of their father-figure, who was now standing in the doorway with an alarmed expression.

"Um, hey Dave…" Alvin stuttered, chuckling nervously.

"Alvin, what were you thinking?" He turned towards Simon, a nervous smile on his face.

"I felt like throwing something," Alvin explained, leaving all the important details out.

"Alvin, clean your mess. You're grounded. I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but whatever it is, it needs to stop," Dave stated, shaking his head.

"I want it to stop too…" Alvin mumbled, hoping no one heard him.

"Speak up, Alvin. You know I hate it when you mumble," Alvin said nothing.

"Alvin," Dave took a step forward, making Alvin jump.

 _Please don't hurt me!_

He almost said he. He almost begged to be left unharmed by his own family. Instead, he took a large step back, towards the window.

"I'll go grab the broom," he muttered nervously, nervously smiling and chuckling as he passed his family.

* * *

"All done. Can I go now?"

"No, Alvin. You're grounded, "Alvin shrugged. It's not like he had to leave yet.

"Fine," He muttered, knowing Dave had no say in what he was going to do. He'd just sneak out.

Dave left, giving Alvin a stern look before doing so, and Simon and Theodore went back to their tutoring session, casting Alvin the occasional glance. Alvin went back to his bed, deciding to go back to his abandoned homework. He picked up his pencil once more and tried to focus on the problems, but found himself having difficulties.

It started small. A small squeezing in his head, something he could easily ignore. But as time dragged on, it got worse. It started spreading from his forehead to the sides of his head, the squeeze getting gradually more intense. The worse it got, the more he struggled to concentrate more and more.

It was weird. Almost like a rubber band squeezing was squeezing his brain.

He dropping his pencil onto his paper, bringing his hands to his head. He gave up trying to focus, seeing as his mind was wandering to everything but his work. He groaned as he rubbed his temples, grabbing his brother's attention.

"Alvin, are you alright?" Simon asked him, eyeing him.

"Fine. Just a little headache." They took his answer, turning back to their tutoring. Alvin allowed his head to rest on the bed for a few seconds before he picked his pencil back up.

Him even attempting homework was odd, but continuing when he had a perfectly good excuse was strange. He knew that. But he didn't care; homework makes an excellent distraction. A small period of time where he can forget his worries and distress and actually do something productive in the process. It's a win-win situation.

He concentrates hard on the problems, refusing to let his brain wander to anything else. He made sure they were his only focus, his worries out the window. His headache was still there, but he did his best to ignore it.

He finished his math, pulling out his English assignment again. He sighed and slipped the homework back in his bag. Why did they have to assign poetry?

"Fellas! Time for dinner!" Alvin flinched, his headache roaring at the sudden noise. He looked up, squinting at the blinding light that greeted him. He hopped down from his bed, his cap tilted down in an attempt to block out any light trying to burn his eyes.

He jumped down, the pain in his knee almost completely gone.

* * *

"What about you, Alvin? How was your day?" Everyone had already said what happened during their carefree, bruise-free days, leaving only Alvin.

"It was good," He mumbled, not in the mood for conversation. He assumed they would know based on his lack of interest in their conversations, but obviously not. He played with his peas, pushing them from one side of his plate to the other with his fork. His eyes were downcast as he studied the table, his eyes avoiding his food.

"Alvin, eat your dinner," Dave commanded. Alvin rolled his eyes, letting out a huff of annoyance in the process. All conversation fell silent, an awkward silence taking its place.

"Alvin, you need to eat. You're a growing boy- "He was cut off by Alvin.

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Alvin rolled his eyes, annoyance seeping into his voice more and more with every word he spoke. Alvin pushed his plate in front of him, knowing he wasn't going to eat it. He wasn't hungry thanks to the bag of cookies from earlier.

"Alvin, I don't like this new attitude," Dave stated firmly.

Alvin, speaking before he could process what he was saying, retorted, "Get used to it," He froze. Where did _that_ come from?

Alvin turned towards his food, thinking about eating it before he could get into deeper waters, but his stomach churned and automatically became nauseated. He put his hand over his stomach, attempting to settle everything in it.

He finally looked up, using his hand to block out the light. This received a few looks from everyone, but he didn't care. He groaned, putting his head in his hands, his headache screaming to no end. He could feel their eyes on him, making his headache more intense.

"May I be excused?" Dave nodded. His expression was still stern but appears to have softened slightly. They watched Alvin scurry up the stairs, one hand still on his head.

"What's wrong with him?" Dave asked, thinking back on Alvin's recent behavior.

"We don't know, but I'm getting really worried…" Theodore stated. He felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and looked to his left; it was Simon. Simon cracked a small smile at him, a sympathetic look in his eyes.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed! I've rewritten and edited this so many times I'm not sure how I did anymore. If you guys have any questions about the story and why I did something, I'd be happy to explain, as long as it doesn't give too much away. I know Dave seems like the bad guy right now, but give him time.**

 **As I was writing this, it was way easier than it probably should've been. I've pretty much finished the next chapter, so expect it to be up about a week from now. Anyway, hope you guys have an amazing year.**

 **Happy New Years!**

 **Peace Out!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! Welcome back to The New Kid! I'm not gonna just blabber so let's get onto the chapter. It's a little longer than usual, something I didn't notice until I was going to publish it.  
**

 **Warning: There are mentions of blood and vomit in this chapter. If that's not your thing, feel free to read around it. Kinda needed it in there for realism, though.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Alvinnn! and the chipmunks or any of it's character. I only own the plot and Spike's character.**

* * *

 _7:23._

Alvin paced his room, unsure what he's supposed to do. It was 7:23, and he still only had one penny. His brothers came up after him, forgetting about a very confused, and now worried, Dave. As they entered the room, Alvin twirled around.

 _I'm getting a sense of déjà vu here…._

"Alvin, I know we ask this a lot, but are you okay?" Simon asked, resulting in an eye roll from Alvin. Alvin looked at Simon, then Theodore.

 _I've got an idea…_

"Oh no, I know that look," Simon stated, saying it in a groan.

"Simon, could you leave me and Theodore alone for a bit?" Alvin asked though Simon knew it wasn't an option.

He heard Simon sighed as he headed for the door. When he heard the door close, Alvin looked directly at Theodore, who looked confused.

"Theo, can I ask for a favor?" Unbeknownst to them, Simon had his ear pressed to the door, making sure Alvin didn't convince Theodore to do something stupid.

"Um…what is it?" Theodore asked cautiously, fully aware of how Alvin's schemes work.

"I need to borrow some money. I promise I'll repay you!"

That's when Simon busted in.

"Alvin, Theodore doesn't need to give you anything. What do you even need the money for?" Alvin froze. He was not expecting questions.

"I-I lost a bet." The lie rolled off his tongue with almost no effort, as if he's been lying for years, which he has. He's never been good at it though, well, he's never been good at it until now.

"Why can't you pay it?"

"I don't have any money! I spent it all last week." Alvin explained, knowing his chances of getting the money were quickly deteriorating.

"That's your own fault. Who's the bet with?"

"Brittany." Lie.

"Why would he give you money so you can pay Brittany? What was the bet about this time?" Alvin asked, rolling his eyes.

"You ask too many questions," Alvin stated, turning towards Theodore, who was wearing a look of uncertainty, "Theodore, please?"

Theodore looked up, meeting his eyes. Theodore stayed silent, making Alvin nervous. Theodore noticed how desperate Alvin looked, how he was silently imploring him. Theodore sighed, knowing he wasn't going to be able to say no to his brother.

He nodded agreeing to give him the money. He heard Simon sigh next to him, upset Alvin tricked their little brother again. That was the usual reaction, so Theodore didn't react.

"Oh, thank you! I promise I'll repay you!" Something was different about this time. He sounded genuine.

"How much do you need?" Theodore asked, heading towards Mr. Piggy, who they glued back together. Alvin paused for a few seconds, unsure of how much he needed, but came up with a reasonable amount.

"Um…is 20 okay?" Alvin asked, an edge to his voice. Nervous or apologetic, Theodore wasn't sure.

"That's all I got, but okay," Theodore replied, his voice saddened, just like every other time Alvin tricked him into giving him money. Alvin looks at him, then the money in his hand, debating whether or not he should take it. Eventually, he grabbed it, letting out a sigh of relief.

The only problem was it was given to him in a small plastic bag, which was filled with quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies, the occasional dollar bill. Either way, he was thankful. He resisted the urge to hug Theodore, knowing he would blow his cover.

"Well, I've got to get this to Brittany. See you guys later," Alvin declared, heading towards the window.

"Alvin, your grounded. Remember?" Alvin groaned at his brother. Of course Simon had to point that out.

"Of course I do. I'll just sneak out, give her the money, then come right back." He 'explained', lying straight through his teeth. He glanced towards the clock.

 _7:34._

He wouldn't be back for a while. Not until past eleven, and that's at the earliest.

Simon sighed, knowing he was getting nowhere with Alvin.

Alvin turned around and sprinted out the window. He quickly climbed down the tree and slowly started heading to the school. He didn't rush himself, he didn't have to. He had plenty of time, more than he knew what to do with.

He didn't even know why he left so quickly, he just did.

The cold breeze hit his face, the temperature steadily dropping. It was fairly cold right now, temperatures around the mid-fifties. He continued walked, his thoughts wandering to random topics.

This time, he didn't stop them.

His mind was everywhere. Bouncing from if he had enough money to when the next test was in school. The breeze grew colder, causing a shiver to crawl up Alvin's spine and spread throughout his body. He pulled his sweater sleeve over his hands, which were starting to freeze.

He pulled his hood over his head, hiding his face. His cap was still on his head, no longer tilted down.

 _7:51._

About fifteen minutes have passed since he left his house, and his temperature situation hasn't gotten any better.

 _Buzz._

He hesitantly pulled out his phone, sighing in relief when he saw the contact. His breath created a puff of fog in the air in front of him.

' _Where are you? It doesn't take that long to drop off money.'_

' _You worry too much, Si. I'm fine.'_

' _Just be back soon. Dave's going to be up soon.'_

Alvin paused. He forgot about Dave. It was too late to turn around now, not unless he wanted to be stuck in the house for the night. He was actually enjoying himself. It was cold, yes, but it was peaceful and quiet.

 _8:11._

He arrived at the school.

He walked towards one of the benches and sat down. It was cold, making the goosebumps on his arms worse, but he was tired. He felt the cold heap of metal in his pocket and leaned against the back of the bench. He scanned the area around him, taking in the cold, calm area around him.

The recently installed street lamps illuminated the plaza, the moon helping in the slightest, creating a soft glow around him. Bushes and trees lines the area, looking shadowy and mysterious, casting silhouettes on the cement footpath.

He turned towards the front of the school, which still had the security system from so long ago. The multicolored building could barely be seen in detail. You could see the different array of bricks; the orange, peach, and tan colored bricks. You could see the large glass double doors that brought you into the school. You could even see faintly into the building, where the checkered floor and long stream of lockers and classrooms started. But other than that, it was just a black square in the night.

He turned to the left, noticing something else in the dimly lit area of the school. There were two vending machines, one on each side of the door, one for candy, the other for soda and snacks. He remembers using the one on the left to get a bag of chips after detention, having no lunch left over from earlier in the day. That was around the beginning of the year. He hasn't used them since.

He threw his head back, staring at the white dots scattered across the sky, as if someone randomly splattered white paint on a black canvas. In the far-right corner of his vision he could see the moon, which had a white glow surrounding it. Tonight was a full moon, making the moon stand out that much more.

He turned towards the vending machines again, an idea popping in his head. He wasn't sure how much Spike would like receiving his money in nickels and dimes, so he decided to go with his plan. He walked to the machine and popped the money in, watching the money count go up with every coin he slipped in.

After he finished putting all the coins in the machine, he looked at the money count.

 _$19.87._

Seemed good enough. He pressed the change button, receiving his money back, in dollar bills this time. Except for the remaining 87 cents, which came out in three quarters, a dime, and three pennies.

He smirked at himself, content with his work.

* * *

A knock on the door is what interrupted their conversation. They were lounging on the couch, preparing themselves for bed, when someone knocked on the door again, more hastily this time. The girls exchanged glances, wondering what the boys were doing here.

It just seemed weird for them to swing by at this time, but they knew it was them. They were the only other ones who could fit in the treehouse.

They all stood up prepared to answer the door, but Eleanor was the first to reach the door. She opened it, already knowing what to suspect, but was still slightly surprised when she opened the door.

"Where's Alvin?" Eleanor asked, seeing as he was usually the reason they'd come over at this hour on a school night.

"Wait, he not here?!" Simon asked, both boys looking alarmed. They were confident he'd be here. That's where he said he was going after all.

"No, why would he be?" She asked, gesturing them inside so she could close the door and stop letting in the chilly air.

"He said he lost a bet to Brittany and needed to drop some money off."

"Brittany, it's for you," Eleanor stated, going over to lounge on the couch once more.

"What do you guys- "She was cut off halfway through, realizing her friend's absence, "Where's Alvin?"

"We were going to ask you," Theodore declared shyly, confusing her.

"Me? Why me?"

"Because he needed to drop off the money," Simon told her, crossing his arms.

"For what?"

"The bet," Simon replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What bet? There was no bet between us. He doesn't owe me anything," Simon and Theodore shared a look, realizing Alvin had lied to them. About everything. Why he needed the money, where he was going, how long he was going to be gone, he lied about everything!

Simon groaned, while Theodore just looked worried.

"If he's no here, where could he be?" Theodore asked Simon, a curious glint in his eye.

"He isn't at your house?" Jeanette asked, speaking up for the first time since the boys arrived at the threshold.

"No. He left an hour and a half ago and never came back," Simon informed them, concern slowly seeping into his voice. He paced

"I just don't get why he'd lie," Simon turned towards Theodore, and could automatically tell his mind was somewhere else.

"Theodore, are you okay?" Simon asked his youngest brother, who was leaning against the back of the couch with his knees to his chest, his arms wrapped around his knees in an attempt to pull the closer.

"No, I miss Alvin," Simon wrapped an arm around him and smiled.

"Don't worry, we'll find him,"

"No, I miss the real him. He's just been acting so strange lately. There's something he's not telling us, and it's hurting him more than we know," Theodore spilled, not holding back in anyway. He has always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve, which proves to be both good and bad for him.

"What do you mean, Theodore," Simon coaxed, urging him to go on.

"Something's wrong with him, and whatever it is, it's taking a huge toll on him. I just want him to return to normal," He vented somberly, bringing his knees closer to his chest. Simon sighed at him. He could understand what he was saying, but he couldn't let Theodore know that.

"Don't worry, Theodore. We'll figure out what's wrong with him and he'll be back to normal before you know it," Simon comforted, unsure if he was trying to convince himself or Theodore. He whipped out his phone, deciding to text Alvin.

' _Where are you? You aren't at the chipette's.'_

' _oh, forgot to mention, there's a party going on I really wanted to attend. I'll be back later.'_ Simon groaned and rolled his eyes, catching everyone's attention.

' _Seriously Alvin, we were so worried! Besides, you're grounded. Remember?'_

' _Now's not the time.'_

Simon sighed and stood up, getting everyone's attention.

"False alarm. He went to a party," A rise of collective groans rose from everyone in the room, except for Theodore, who was suspicious, but said nothing.

 _With the way he's been acting, I doubt he wants to go to a party of any sorts,_ Theodore thought, the uneasiness in the back of his mind growing.

"We're gonna head out. Sorry for bothering you guys," Simon said, grabbing Theodore and guided him through the door and to their house.

* * *

 _9:11._

Lies. Intentionally false statements that benefit whoever is telling them, or maybe even the person being lied to. Easy to tell, harder to back up. After telling said lie, you have to remember it forever so you don't get caught in the lie.

Lies build on lies. If someone gets suspicious of your lie, you have to come up with another to back it up. After a bit of this, you have a bunch of lies to remember just swirling your brain, and, depending on what it is, may even start eating you from the inside out.

That's what it was doing for Alvin. Eating him from the inside out, begging him to tell someone, anyone, the truth.

 _Buzz._

It was Simon. He pulled out his phone, pulling his sweater tighter around him.

' _Where are you? You aren't at the chipette's.'_

' _oh, forgot to mention, there's a party going on I really wanted to attend. I'll be back later.'_ Lies. More of them. They seem to be piling up quicker than Alvin can keep up with.

' _Seriously Alvin, we were so worried! Besides, you're grounded. Remember?'_ Oh course I remember, Alvin thought, rolling his eyes.

' _Now's not the time.'_ Makes it more believable. If he was at a party, he wouldn't just sit around like a mope and text, no, he'd be dancing until he couldn't anymore, till his feet ached so much he could barely pick them up off the ground.

He got no response, so he assumed he bit the bait.

 _9:16._

He continued to sit there, just waiting for Spike to show his face. His teeth chattered, and his skin was covered in goosebumps. He pushed himself into the back of the bench and brought his knees to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and bringing them closer, determined to preserve any body heat.

It worked a little. He warmed up a tad, but he was still freezing.

 _9:19._

Deciding he had nothing better to do, he decided to start working on his poem for class. He had to present it, so he had to make it good.

What could he write about to make it ' _emotional and heartfelt'_?

 _Mean kids?_ No, that'd give him away.

 _Love?_ Heck no, that was the last thing he was feeling right now.

 _Pain?_ He'd have to come back to that.

 _Lies?_ He'd have to return to that too.

 _9:22._

Is the clock moving slow just to spite him? That's the only explanation. Mother nature wanted him to freeze to death, so she slowed down time, making him sit in the cold even longer.

A car sped past him, blinding him with its headlights. It quickly drove off, leaving Alvin to wonder why they were still out. Sure, nine-o-clock wasn't very early, but they lived in a small town, so everything shuts down a little earlier than the big city.

 _9:27._

His teeth chatter some more as he looks for some way, any way, to warm up. The temperature was continuing to drop, now resting in the mid-forties, freezing the adolescent even more. He slides his arms from the sleeves, bringing the sleeves in with him. He wraps his bare arms around his cold upper body.

 _9:31._

He starts praying Spike would show up early. The sooner he received the beat-up, the sooner he could go home and get warm. He heard a rustling in the bushes next to him, but he didn't bother with what it could be.

 _9:33._

A small bunny pops out of the bush, looking at Alvin with pure, innocent eyes. Alvin never thought he'd say something like this, but he envied the bunny.

It was warm, wrapped in a bundle of fur made to sustain the winters. But him? No. He stupidly left the house with only his sweater.

 _Stupid._

 _9:37._

He saw the outline of a man, about 5' 7", in the distance, but passed it off as a figure of his imagination. Despite this, Alvin couldn't ignore the slight tug of fear in the back of his mind.

 _9:41._

He felt someone's presence, someone's eyes on him, and he didn't particularly like it. He tried to pull his thoughts away from his intimidation, but he couldn't. Everything brought him back to where he currently was, sitting on a freezing cold bench, his skin feeling like ice, and someone else lurking in the shadows.

 _10:46._

He was late.

 _He. Was. Late._

And to say the least, Alvin was not happy. The feeling of being watched was still there, scaring him more and more with each second that passed.

He envied the bunny more and more with each second that past.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the outline he saw earlier came into view, showing the shadows features.

Spike.

"Took you long enough," Alvin growled without thinking.

 _Smack._

 _Should've seen that coming_. He put his arms back in his sleeves.

"Do you have the money?"

"Of course I do. I'd be stupid not to bring it," Alvin retorted, handing out the bills.

"Not enough."

"What?"

"I said it wasn't enough," _Whack,_ "Next time, listen you dimwit."

He felt himself getting lifted off the ground, his skin still ice-cold. He looked up towards Spike, concealing every each of fear in his body. Alvin squinted, noticing something across his face.

A scratch. It wasn't deep, but it was there, reaching from the bottom of his jaw to the top of his forehead. It seemed like one of those papercuts you get as a kid, the only difference being the size. Spike probably got into a fight.

Spike, realizing what he was staring at, quickly slammed him into the wall.

 _Hard._

 _Harder than ever before._

Alvin was caught completely off guard, taking in large gasps of air and ignoring the pain in his back.

Alvin felt himself hurtle towards the ground, full speed, nothing to break his fall. He put his hand in front of him, breaking the fall, almost doing the same to his wrist. He yowled in pain, retracting his hand before he could use it to break his fall anymore. Still hurt, though. Probably sprained.

He was still out of breath when he received a blow to the stomach, making him wheeze even harder. His deep, frantic breathing became coughs, his coughs became coughing fits, and that became, well, that became struggling to keep the bile in his stomach.

Despite this, the blows kept on coming, only making it worse. Eventually, he couldn't hold it down anymore and it came up, burning his throat on the way up. The cookies were no longer in his stomach, to say the least.

He dry-heaved for a while, his coughing fit slowly starting to die away. He stood up, just to be shoved back down. Curse this. Curse him. Curse Spike.

"You got vomit on my shoe!" Alvin looked down, and, sure enough, he had. It wasn't a large amount, there was barely any there, and his shoes were leather so it could be easily wiped off, but Spike will use any excuse he could find to pummel him, and he knew it.

He closed his eyes and prepared himself, mentally, physically, and even emotionally, for the torture that was sure to follow. And soon, it did. He was still freezing, but not as bad now.

He felt something roughly pierce his arm, jaggedly cutting open his arm. Blood ran down his arm like red raindrops as he did his best to focus on something else. He looked at his arm again, realizing his sleeves had been rolled up. He attempted to roll them back down, but the look on Spike's face said it all.

He was cold and stiff, his muscles tense, making this a whole lot more painful. It was almost as if Spike could sense this as the punches back harder, the kicks became rougher, and his skin was pierced more and more.

Spike eventually got bored again, making everything come to a halt. Well, except the cold but he couldn't do anything about that.

"Listen close, Twerp," Spike commanded, lifting Alvin up by the collar of his shirt, "If you tell anyone, and I mean anyone, anything about this, you're dead." He put his hand on his throat and pushed slightly, reminding Alvin of Friday to emphasize his point.

Alvin nodded obediently, too scared to try anything else. He's better off if he just does what he's told.

He dropped to the floor again, hearing the footsteps become more and more distant. He forced himself up, shivering and rolling down his sleeve in the process.

 _12:37._

He was dead. Either way, he was dead. Either Spike or Dave would kill him, and he wasn't kidding anymore. At this point, he knows Spike will kill him if he lets anything slip.

He shivered again before breaking into a full-on sprint, desperate to get home and away from the cold air that was nipping at his skin and numbing his fingers. He felt blood running down his arm, but ignored it and kept running.

 _12:52._

He could see his house. The light to their room was off, but the window was most likely unlocked. He sprinted a little faster, beads of sweat running down his forehead.

 _12:56._

He arrives on his front lawn, still freezing cold. He wasn't going to stop until he got inside, where it's warm. He tried climbing the tree, but his wrist screamed as he collapsed on the ground. The cold was making him weak, exhaustion not helping in the slightest bit.

He looked around before sighing. It was the only way up unless he wanted to go through the front door. His cringed at the thought, not wanting to be caught by Dave. So he pushed through, biting his tongue to keep himself going. He put every ounce of strength in his body into it, his fingers numb and struggling to grab hold of anything, struggling to move for the matter.

He finally got himself up to the top branch. Now, all he had to do was cross the branch and open the window. He stumbled a few times as he crossed the branch, but managed to maintain his balance. Surprisingly it was opening the window that was hard.

He had put all his strength into running home and climbing up the tree, leaving him drained beyond imagined. He tried to open the window, but could only do it with one hand, making it a lot harder. Eventually, he gave up, collapsing against the window.

 _1:04._

Wow. Out of everything that could happen, he gets locked out from his own bedroom. He leans against the cool glass, a shiver running up his spine. He shivers and shakes, his teeth chatter, and his lips turn a purplish-blue.

 _1:07._

He leaned his head back against the window, giving up hope for the first time since this mess started. The window behind him unexpectedly opened behind him, causing him to fall straight inside. The warm air welcomes him but sickens him at the same time.

A loud thud echoes throughout the room, startling someone behind him awake. He looked up to see Theodore looking down at him, offering him a hand. Alvin, deciding he could use the help, agreed, reaching his hand up towards Theodore's. His arm almost collapsed, feeling super heavy, but he grabbed Theodore's hand just in time.

Theodore flinched and dropped his hand, surprised by how cold it was. He heard the lights flicker behind him, flooding the room with light quickly after. Alvin flinched and squinted, his eyes now adjusted to the dark.

"Alvin, are you okay?!" Theodore panicked, startling him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," He forced a smile, "Just a little chilly," Alvin felt something wrap around his torso and jumped. He looked down to see Theodore squeezing him like he was never coming back. He didn't mind, though. Theodore was really warm.

"Alvin, you're really cold," Theodore mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear it.

"Couldn't tell," He retorted, sarcasm dripping from his voice. He was still shaking violently, proving his point that much more.

"Alvin, what way you thinking?!" _Way to ruin the moment, Si._

"What do you mean?" Alvin shivered, crossing his arm for warmth.

"Well," Simon started, pushing up his glasses, "you lied to us, stayed out until past midnight, then come in and wake everyone up!" Alvin looked down, rubbing his arm and wincing.

"Well, sorry," That's all he could say. And he was. Sorry for himself, sorry for his brothers, sorry for Dave….

 _1:09._

He shivered again, less violently than before. He was warming up really quick. Almost too quick. His toes and his fingers are no longer numb, but now they burn. He kept quiet, feeling it was better not to tell them.

 _1:13._

His brothers are still around him, doing their best to warm him up with blankets. Alvin makes a mad dash for the bathroom, hand clasped over his mouth.

 _1:16._

He collapsed against the side of the bathtub, breathing heavily. He stopped shivering by now, but he was still chilly, and now he was exhausted.

 _1:17._

His legs shook as his brothers helped him stand. He stood up, his legs so heavy he could barely lift them. He tried to take a step, but they collapsed under him, sending him hurtling to the floor. He felt two pairs of hands grab him before he could fall. His brothers shared the same worried glance, but said nothing.

 _1:27._

Both his brothers were speaking to him. Simon was chewing him out while Theodore just gushed about how happy he was he was okay. He was barely listening thought. His cuts were stinging and his body was aching.

"Are we going to tell Dave?" Theodore asked, catching Alvin's attention.

"No, he'd be in more trouble than he already is,"

"Simon, is Alvin going to be alright?" Theodore asked, gesturing towards Alvin, who was watching them converse, but his mind appeared to be somewhere else.

Simon was just as worried as Theodore, but cracked a small smile, "Of course he is Theodore. Why wouldn't he be?"

 _1:35._

He was warmed up by now and was getting up to change his sweatshirt. The current one had blood on it, staining the sleeves a darker, almost unnoticeable, crimson color.

He entered the bathroom, grabbing a pair of pjs and a sweater on the way. He quickly throws on his pajama shirt and pants and sighs.

A large, painful cut was running from his hand to his elbow in a slightly diagonal and jagged line. The rest weren't as big, but were still equally painful, most running from one side of his wrist to the other. Bruises trailed up his arm, different shades of purple, black, and blue.

He runs the cold water, preparing himself. He slides his arm under the running water, making him grit his teeth and let out a sharp hiss. He heard a knock on the door, followed by a muffled voice he didn't quite understand. He heard the doorknob jiggle, now relieved he thought to lock.

He watched the blood run down his arm swirl down the drain, lightening in color when it makes contact with the water. He had to rub a few of the cuts to help get the dirt out, making him grit his teeth and shut his eyes. He shut off the water, his arm now blood, dirt, and dust free.

He looked up and saw a bottle of rubbing alcohol on the sink, and debated whether he should use it or not. He reached for it, knowing that no matter how much he didn't want to use it, he had to. He slowly turned the cap before pulling it off, catching a good whiff of its scent.

He tipped the bottle over, bracing for the stinging sensation about to overcome him. His eyes watered as he let out another hiss, this one louder than the last. A tear trickled down his cheek, it's trail right next to his lips, giving him a taste of the salty droplet.

He finally finished, wiping away the remaining liquid stinging his arm. We wiped his cheeks, ridding of his tear's trail that remained on his face.

He quickly threw on his sweatshirt, quickly pulling his sleeves down to cover the scratches. They'd heal soon anyway.

 _1:47._

He exited the bathroom, darkness being what greeted him. He flicked the bathroom light off and made his way over to his bed, hopping onto it. His knee and wrist screamed at him, causing him to wince, but he continued doing it anyway. He pulls the covers up and slides under them, savoring the warmth they provide.

 _1:49._

He turned on his side, restless as ever when he felt his arm make contact with something, probably the bedframe or nightstand. He lets out a hiss and quickly retracts his arm. Simon heard it but said nothing as he let out a sigh and wandered to sleep.

Alvin could hear Theodore snoring to his left and let out a deep sigh.

 _I wish I could fall asleep that easy…_

 _2:12._

Why couldn't he sleep? Why couldn't he just close his eyes and sleep? It's all he's wanted to do all day, but now he can't.

He flipped on his back and stared at the ceiling.

Why couldn't anything go right?

His eyes scanned the ceiling, studying it. The color, the number of creases in it, how the lamp hung from it in the middle of the room.

His eyes drooped, but only a little bit.

 _2:19._

Come on! How long could he possibly stay awake? This was getting old very quickly.

He turned on his side, curling into a ball.

 _Buzz._

 _Ignore it,_ he thought, curling into an even tighter ball. He closed his eyes, refusing to open them until morning.

The day's events were steadily catching up to him, making him loosen his grip more and more with every second that passed.

 _2:27._

His eyes closed, feeling like weights. He smiled, knowing that after so long he could finally sleep. As he felt sleep tugging on his consciousness, he had one last thought before letting sleep consume him.

 _They're safe. That's all that matters._

* * *

 **Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and yes. It is possible to throw up from warming up to quick. I happened to me once. Anyway, tell me what you think, any ideas, how I could do better. I want to hear from you guys! I have about two more chapters written, they just have to be rewritten and edited. Next chapter is a time skip, so keep your eyes out for that.  
**

 **Peace Out!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! This chapter isn't very graphic in any way, but I wouldn't let six year olds read it. I have a couple announcements at the end so look out for those.  
**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Alvinnn! And the Chipmunks or any of it's characters. I only own the plot and Spike.**

* * *

 _Alvin rounded the corner of the school, making his way to the back of the building for him and Spike's nightly encounter. There was a pit feeling in his stomach that got worse with each step, and he briefly thought of turning around before shaking the thought away._

 _The feeling got worse as he walked, his stomach was screaming at him to turn around, but he ignored it and kept walking. The cold air was nipping his skin through his sweater, sending a few chills up his spine. It was a foggy night, the clouds hovering right above the ground. It was so thick you could barely see through it._

 _There was a weird metallic stench in the air, which was odd. It's never been there before, so why was it there now? He became queasy, recognizing what the smell was. He smelt it every night after these little meetings. Blood._

 _The thought made it heart drop to his stomach, trembling as he slowed his walk. He's never smelled it on his way there before, and he was still a decent bit away. Alvin abruptly stopped, his eyes filling with tears of anxiety as he forced himself to pick up his feet and continuing walking._

 _He knew there was going to be blood when he got there. Lots of it. There had to be to be able to smell it from here. His stomach was churning as he took another cautious step, his breathing getting heavier. His heart pounded in his chest as he saw the corner._

 _He had to turn there, but he really didn't want to. He wanted to turn back and tell someone, but he knew he couldn't do it. His eyes were moist as he stood at the corner, hiding from what he knew he'd have to face. He could hear heavy breathing and crying, making his eyes widen. A few tears slipped down his face, followed by a bloodcurdling scream. Alvin felt his legs go weak as he leaned against the brick wall._

 _He was too afraid to go in now; he felt a few more tears slipped as he heard the sound of someone's weak whimpers of pain. He averted his gaze to the floor, ashamed at his lack of ability to move. He was petrified, still unsure of what was around the corner. He pulsed raced as he took a deep breath, preparing himself to turn the corner. He was late as it is, now the time was just racking up for him._

 _He heard more cries and froze again. He slid down the wall, burying his head in his knees and letting a few more silent sobs escape. He heard another scream before a silence fell over the place. Alvin's eyes widened as his heart stopped. He sat there, trying to take in what just happened. He wasn't sure what to do, but he knew he couldn't leave. After a bit of thought, Alvin stood up, assuming everything was over._

 _He willed himself to move from his hiding spot, staring down at the alley in front of him. He could barely see a thing. He could see the outline of something a few feet away from him, making him cautiously step towards it. His breath hitch, his heart dropping as he realized what had happened._

 _"Simon?" He took another cautious step, holding back his tears as he knelt beside Simon. Simon was clutching his stomach, a weak look on his face. Simon's face was scrunched in pain, a dead look in his eye._

 _"Alvin?" He said weakly, making Alvin's heart break._

 _"Shh, don't talk. Save your strength." Simon eyes slowly started to close, making Alvin panic._

 _"No Simon, don't die on me now!"_

 _"It-it hurts," Simon stuttered, struggling to keep his eyes open._

 _"I know it does. Don't worry, we'll get you help, you're gonna be fine," Alvin said softly, unsure who he was trying to convince. Simon's breathing started to slow before stopping._

 _"Simon! Please don't go! I need you, you can't leave me now. Don't do this to me!" Alvin screamed, desperately shaking Simon with tears streaming down his face. He hugged him, ignoring the blood that was covering his black sweater. He sobbed, silently praying for Simon to come back._

 _"You happy now, Alvin?"_

 _"Who said that?" Alvin said, the words struggling to escape his throat. He didn't get a response. He continued to hug his brothers, praying for him to come back. He didn't want to believe it. His brother was gone, and there was nothing he could do._

 _The worst part: it was all his fault._

 _He should've gotten help. Once he heard the first scream he should've run, but he didn't. And now Simon was dead. Memories flashed through his mind, more sobs wracking his body as he pulled Simon closer. He never got to spend much time with his brothers. They always fought. Simon and Theodore always have gotten along better than he did with either of them._

 _Theodore._

 _What was he going to tell Theodore? His grip on Simon loosened a bit, but he was still squeezing him tight. How was Theodore going to react? Where was Theodore? He reluctantly let go of Simon, his limp body falling to the ground. He had to find Theodore. He was his only brother left, he had to protect him._

 _He stood up, trying to wipe away his tears but they just kept coming. He gave up on trying to stop them, turning to exit the alley. Something caught his eye, causing him to turn back. He turned his attention to the left of him, noticing a silhouette. He froze, knowing what this meant._

Please don't be Theodore….

 _He took a few vigilant steps towards the figure, holding back his tears for the moment. He closed his eyes, leaning over to see who the figure was, even though the pit in his stomach already knew. He opened his eyes, his heart dropping as a waterfall fell from his eyes._

 _He scanned Theodore, noticing the darker patch on Theodore's stomach. His clothes were tattered, and there was a small hole in the center of the red, maroon stain on his stomach. Alvin swallowed the lump in his throat before he started screaming, not caring if someone heard him._

 _"No, Theodore! Come back! Please just come back! I'll never trick you again, just don't leave me…"He trailed off, his voice barely audible by the end. Reality smacked Alvin in the face as he realized his brothers were gone._

 _And for good this time._

 _This wasn't a simple, "I'll never speak to you again!" type thing, no. This was much more painful, and much more permanent._

 _"I'm so sorry, guys," Alvin whispered, tears falling from his face as his world crashed around him. This can't be happening. This can't be happening! They were always so good, they never got into any kinds of trouble; he did. He should be the one dead in an alleyway, not them. They did nothing wrong!_

 _"You happy now, Alvin?" The voice asked him again, lurking behind one of the corners._

 _"Wh-who sai-said that?" He asked, his voice trembling from his tears and fear. This was probably the guy that killed his siblings._

 _"I think you already know that." The voice said, a silhouette appearing from of him. Alvin stepped back, his eyes widened in fear as the shadow got closer. He felt a strong smack across his cheek, making him stumble backward, his vision hazy for a minute._

 _"Wh-why? Why did you kill them?!" Alvin yelled the last part, receiving a blow to his face._

 _"Why? Why did I kill them? Because you told. You told Dave." Spike explained, making Alvin's eyes widen. Images flashed before Alvin's eyes, making the tears worse as he watched the scene unfold before him._

* * *

 _"Alvin, are you sure you okay?" Simon nagged, watching his brother with worry as he followed him._

 _"I'm fine. Will you just leave me alone?!" Alvin snapped, his voice cracking towards the end. Simon noticed how shiny his eyes were, and how Alvin refused to look him in the eye. He knew Alvin wasn't going to tell him, not like this._

 _Simon sighed and started to leave when someone stopped him._

 _"Hey Simon, have you seen Alvin?"_

 _"Yeah, he's right over there," Simon said, pointing to Alvin in the corner of the room. Simon walked past Dave and to the kitchen._

 _"Alvin, I need you to…Are you okay?" Dave put a hand on his shoulder, making Alvin jump. Alvin's eyes jumped towards him, his eyes full of tears he was struggling to contain. Alvin was about to crack. He was more stressed than ever. He was struggling to keep his grades where he liked them, where he felt smart, and the insults were starting to eat at his insides._

 _Alvin shut his eyes, trying to get the burning feeling to subside. Dave's soft words and comforting touch was about to make him explode._

 _"Please, just leave me alone," He told Dave, struggling to get the words to form in his mouth. He opened his eyes again, noticing Dave's soft look. That's what broke him. That's what broke the dam. He felt Dave hug him, bringing him closer as he rubbed his back as an act of comfort._

 _"Should we go somewhere more private?" Dave asked. Alvin nodded his head, not able to speak through his sobs. Dave attempted to carry him, which Alvin tried to fight, but he was really weak at the moment. So, he gave in, allowing Dave to carry him where ever._

 _He passed both of his brothers, noticing them both give him a worried look. He didn't care anymore, though. Everything had crashed around him, leaving him in an avalanche of his emotions. He had managed to stop being a wimp and stop crying, but the evidence and pain were still there._

 _"Alvin?" Alvin turned his gaze towards his father-figure, his brothers now peeking through the doorway. He looked around, realizing that he had been taken to the office._

 _"Alvin, what's wrong?" Alvin debated if he should tell or not. He really wanted to tell. He couldn't handle the pressure anymore. It was slowly crushing him into a hole in the ground. But the other part knew he couldn't tell him._

 _Alvin felt his phone buzz in his pocket, making his eyes widen._

' _No one cares about you, you worthless piece of trash.'_

 _Alvin stared at it blankly, feeling the familiar feeling that always came after these texts. Self-hatred._

 _"What's it say, Alvin?" Dave asked, observing his reaction. Alvin didn't hear him, too engulfed in his thoughts to notice Dave reaching for his phone. The small electronic device was ripped from his grip, making him panic. He tried to reach for his phone back, his eyes watering as he realized what was going to happen._

 _He saw Dave scan his finger down the screen, looking at more texts. His expression was blank, worrying Alvin as he reached for his phone again. Over time, a small smile appeared on Dave's face as he chuckled lightly._

 _"That's it? That's what's worrying you?" Alvin looked down in embarrassment, a sudden interest in his feet. He nodded lightly, making Dave burst out laughing. His eyes watered in embarrassment and shame as he willed himself not to cry._

 _"What does it say?" Simon asked, walking in with Theodore trailing behind him. Alvin snatched his phone back from Dave, growling and glaring at him. It was completely fake, though. He was hurt. These insults have been nipping at his soul forever, the bites getting bigger, and Dave laughs. Alvin looks down in embarrassment as he clutches his phone tighter, not wanting to see their reaction. I'd probably be just like Dave's._

 _"We promise we won't laugh," Theodore said, casting a confused glance towards Dave. Simon growled slightly at Dave, noticing Alvin's reactions to his laughing. Alvin looked up, meeting their gaze, his eyes dead but teary._

 _"He can't take a few little insults!" Dave laughed, making Alvin heat up and look down in humiliation. Alvin gulped, waiting for his brothers' reactions. He noticed the blank stares on their faces, reluctantly handing over his phone._

 _They took it, scrolling through all the texts. They had the same reaction as Dave's, except Theodore's reaction was a little more pitiful. Theodore has always been really sympathetic, so Alvin didn't take it to heart._

 _"Well, you may be weak, but we have to tell. Your performance in the group hasn't been the best and we need to keep the band going." Alvin's heart dropped._

 _They only need him for money._

* * *

 _"I'm sorry…" He mumbled, his mind crashing around him at the flashback. They thought he was weak, they laughed at the insults. Yet he couldn't a grudge against them._

 _"You should be! You made their lives miserable their entire lives! I feel bad for them. You really are just a weakling who can't handle his own problems." Spike spat at him, his voice blunt and venomous._

 _"I'm sorry," Alvin repeated, feeling the tears fall faster. His breathing was hard and labored, his throat drier than a desert._

 _Spike spat more in insults his way, making Alvin cry more. He really was weak._

 _Alvin felt himself make a forceful contact with the wall behind him, knocking the wind out of him. He looked up at Spike in fear, noticing the murderous look in his eyes. No mercy. Nothing but hatred._

 _He felt a kick in his side, followed by a rough punch to the nose. A sharp, agonizing pain shot through his nose, a warm liquid gushing out of it. Multiple punches and kicks followed, each one more and more painful. He awaited the usual rock routine, and it came, just not how it usually did._

 _Instead of cutting his wrists like usual, he resulted to whacking him with them, which pretty much snapped everything it touched. The first one hit his wrist with an incredible amount of force. An excruciating pain shot up his entire arm, making him scream out. Black dots invaded his vision but soon faded away. He felt an intense pain upside his head, making him shed a few tears. He felt blood run down his face, but he was too focused on the immense pain that shot through his entire skull, refusing to fade away._

 _Alvin closed his eyes, the images of his bloody, broken brothers coming to his mind. He tried to warp himself away from what was going on now, but the amount of pain got worse and worse until he was on the brink of passing out. His vision was hazy, and he was seeing black dots, but something wouldn't allow him to sleep._

 _Everything around him stopped as he nervously looked up, his eyes widening. Spike was gripping a leather handle tightly, blood dripping down the object's blade as he stared at Alvin, a bloodthirsty look in his eye. Alvin recoiled and stared at him, eyes flickering to the knife that was making its way towards him._

 _He felt his arms yank towards Spike, making him hiss in pain. A sharp pain seared his wrist, the blood dripping to the ground. He brought his knees to his chest and allowed Spike to do as he wanted. He was dazed, the pain being the only thing he could feel anymore. He was lightheaded as he swayed back and forth in his spot, but he couldn't just pass out. He just wanted something to knock him out so the pain would go away._

 _Tears flowed down his face as the blade brushed against his skin as a warning before brutally slicing it open, making Alvin's face scrunch up. The knife left more and more cuts scratched along his body, slowly making its way up his arm._

 _Everything stopped for a second, puzzling him. That quickly went away, however, as he felt a cold object against his throat. His breath hitched as he stared at Spike in horror. He was going to kill him. He was actually going to kill him._

 _He felt something shake him but found nothing had touched his shoulder. He brushed it off, too busy worrying about the weapon with the capability to kill him any second now. He was dizzy from lack of oxygen but didn't dare exhale as the knife was pushed closer against his throat. He hiccupped, out of tears. He felt blood run down his neck, the pressure on his neck getting worse._

 _A metallic taste settle in his mouth, mixing with the salt from his tears. He could feel his heart hammering against his chest, finally releasing the breath he's been keeping in. Spike had pulled away, but Alvin knew that no matter what, he was not getting out of here alive._

 _He felt an intense pain in his stomach, his eyes widening and his face wincing in pain. He clutched his stomach, the pain soon on the other side of his stomach. He rolled on his side, tears flowing freely. Nothing else followed, but he heard Spike chuckling as he watched him writhe in pain._

 _Alvin felt himself fade in and out of consciousness, the pain getting increasingly worse. He just wished he would die already, that this pain would finally be over. Spike had finally achieved his goal._

 _He had finally broken him._

 _He was extremely dizzy, on the brink of passing out. His breathing was hard as he struggled to get the air into his lungs. He knew he was going to die, but he didn't care. Not anymore…._

 _His eyes rolled into the back of his head, a black curtain falling over his entire field of vision._

* * *

 _Alvin woke up, disoriented and in pain. His looked down at his sweater and jeans, noticing the jeans stained completely red. Alvin slowly sat up, his head deciding to be difficult. His vision was blurry and hazy as he looked around the room, but there wasn't much to see. Nothing but white._

 _He looked around again, tilting his head in confusion. When did he get here? Had someone found him and brought him here? He rolled up his sleeve, noticing that the knife's marks were still there, but they were scabbed over. That didn't make them hurt any less._

 _He stood up, scanning the room before noticing something in the corner. He squinted at it, noticing there was writing on it. He took a few steps closer, the words slowly forming from the otherwise black blob. He walked towards it until he was standing right in front of it._

' _Subject 217'_

 _What? He read the words again, assuring that he had read them right. Subject? Was he in some kind of sick experiment?_

 _"Hello? Anyone there?" He called out, hoping for some kind of response. He heard nothing but a few whispers. He looked around, pale as a ghost. He was hearing things, he had to be. No one was around, and the padding on the walls seemed soundproof._

 _The whispering got louder, making him cover his ears. It didn't stop anything as the whispers continued getting louder. Was this why they put him in here, because he was going crazy?_

 _"I know right! He acts like we actually care about him." Brittany's voice echoed, an eruption of laughter following._

 _"Britt?" He got no response, making him frown. What were they talking about?_

 _"Brittany?! Britt, where are you?!" He panicked, eyes widening as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He ran his hands through his hair, pulling at it as tears formed in his eyes. What was happening?_

 _"I mean, we have enough idiots in this world, we don't need him too." Eleanor's voice came over as she laughed with her sister._

 _"He's worthless, why can't he see that? Instead, he goes around with confidence he doesn't deserve to have!" He didn't recognize the voice, but it did sound familiar to him._

 _"I know right, and he's like totes annoying," Someone else from school. He's heard Brittany and Eleanor somewhere around him, but where was Jeanette, Simon, and Theodore? He heard a few whispers behind him, sounding quite close to him, so he turned around._

 _That's where they were. Jeanette, Simon, and Theodore all staring at him, whispering among each other. Alvin ran up to his brothers, hugging them tightly as their dead bodies flashed in his mind. Tears of joy bubbled in his eyes but quickly disappearing as Simon shoved him away, quite aggressively._

 _"Guys, what's going on?" He asked them, desperate for answers. He didn't know anything, nothing besides he was in a room with no windows or doors._

 _"Guys?" They didn't answer, but they each gave him a glare, making him backpedal._

 _That's when everything came crashing down._

 _"You're heartless, caring about no one but yourself!"_

 _"I feel bad for your brothers. If you were my brother I'd be embarrassed too."_

 _"You don't deserve to live!"_

 _"If I had a dollar for every person who wished you dead, I'd have an infinite amount of money."_

 _"You shouldn't go and walk around so confident, it just makes people laugh at you more."_

 _"You're a freak of nature. That's the only reason anyone could be so ugly!_

 _"Loser!"_

 _"Wimp!"_

 _"Waste of space!"_

 _"Go kill yourself!"_

 _"I wish you would just die already."_

 _"If stupid could fly, you'd be a jet."_

 _"I'm pretty sure if I sucked all the stupid out of you there would be nothing left!"_

 _"You're one crazy excuse for a human being,"_

 _"Shut up, shut up! You're lying, all of you. You're just jealous!" He tried to say it with confidence, but found his voice cracking towards the end. Laughter erupted from everyone around him, none of which he could see. When the insults just kept coming, he pushed himself into a corner, listening to all the insults as they came._

 _He didn't want to listen, but he couldn't stop himself._

 _"You always were and always will be ungrateful! You can't change that, it's who you are, and it's disgusting."_

 _"You create so much drama it's ridiculous."_

 _"Everyone is born stupid, you just stay stupid."_

 _"Children like you deserve to be punished until they beg for mercy!"_

 _"Loner!"_

 _"Does anyone remember telling him we care about him? No? That's cause we don't."_

 _"Aww! Is he going to cry?"_

 _"If you cry you'll get it!"_

 _"Watch your back."_

 _Alvin pushed back the tears forming in his eyes. Everyone who has ever loved him, cared for him, or made him happy had turned on him, except for Dave. Speaking of Dave, where is he? It was like everyone could read his mind as the disheartening answer was screamed at him._

 _"He left. Said he couldn't deal with you anymore, so he left. And it's all your fault." Why did everything have to be his fault? He bit his lip, wondering why everyone around him was so. Darn. Negative._

 _The insults kept coming, internal pain flowing from his eyes. Everyone laughed at him, making him bury his face in his arms. This was humiliating, and that was saying the least. They had already made him feel bad, what made them crave more? What had he done to get them to long for and desire his pain so much?_

 _"I told you, Alvin," His heart stopped as he looked up. The man who started it all. "They don't care about you, they laugh at you behind your back," Spike's black clothing was the only other color in this room beside the sickening bleached color._

 _Just looking at Spike made his head want to explode. He bit his lip to keep his emotions in check. His nightmare was rushing back in a series of images, repeatedly replaying in his head as he felt something break his ball._

 _Wall. Labored breathing. Laughing. Kick. Punch. More laughing._

 _Alvin couldn't take this anymore as he limped, allowing Spike to do whatever he wanted. The quicker he gave in, the quicker this would be over. He's doing the world a favor._

 _He's giving up._

 _Maybe they would be happier as they danced on his grave. Maybe Dave would return to take care of Simon and Theodore. Maybe his brothers would miss him…._

 _His lungs burned as he struggled to breathe. All he could see anymore were painful memories. Every once positive memory has been turned sour. Jagged breaths escaped his lips as he freely let the tears mix with the blood. The entire room, once a pure canvas, was now painted completely red._

 _His vision flashed black before turning back to normal, quicker than lightning. The storm around him got worse, the insults raining down harder, the thunder shaking his insides. He wished he could duck into some kind of shelter until the storm passed, but all he had was gone._

 _He was basically a rattlesnake in the arctic. Cold and venomous, but in desperate need of some kind of change, some kind of help. He was scared and snappy, but wouldn't anyone be? Huge changes are terrifying, and very hard to adjust to. That is, if it doesn't kill you first._

 _Every nerve in his body was freaking, some tingling, some completely numb. He felt a crushing pressure in his throat and lungs, his vision starting to fade. He closed his eyes, blacking out the blurred space in front of him._

 _His awareness was fading as he clenched his teeth, facing the fear of what he knew would come. He was terrified, but also at peace. He wasn't sure what would happen after he died, but he wouldn't be bothering everyone around him._

 _And that was enough to make him happy._

 _He heard cheering surround him as his world slowly faded to black._

* * *

 _"You won't survive this Alvin. You're too weak to go any longer."_

"Alvin,"

 _"Who said that?! What are you talking about?!" He screamed, startled by the two voices. Wasn't he supposed to be dead?_

 _"You already know that Alvin."_

"Alvin," _The voice was a little louder this time, but he ignored it as he started questioning his sanity._

 _"Why? Why do you like this?" Alvin asked, despite knowing his answer. He was a nothing, and someone finally called him out on it._

"Alvin!"

 _"Because you deserve it. You deserve everything that comes to you."_

"ALVIN!" _He felt himself start to warp away from the pitch-black abyss._

 _"Just remember Alvin. Whatever happens, I will win. And I promise that you'll be dead by the end."_

* * *

Alvin's eyes shot open as he quickly sat up in bed. His throat was tight as he started coughing on something draining in his throat. He took deep breaths, his body severely lacking oxygen. He scanned the area he was in, recognizing it as his bedroom.

It was just a dream.

Just a sick, horrid dream.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Again! What did you think? I promise this wasn't just a filler chapter, it has a purpose. Anyway, if you haven't noticed already, I have been doing my best to upload every Saturday, Sunday at the latest. I have been a little busy lately with school just starting back up, but I will make sure I have time to update. Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Peace Out!**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: As much I wish I did, I do not own Alvinnn! And the Chipmunks or any of it's characters. I only own the plot and Spike.**_

* * *

Alvin breathed a sigh of relief as he collapsed back onto the covers, unable to sit up any longer. He took in a few large breaths of air, attempting to calm his erratic heartbeat and breathing. He closed his eyes, stopping the tears in their tracks.

He knew how to calm himself down after these nightmares seeing as they happened often. Even so, it was kind of difficult. This was by far the worst he's had so far.

He looked towards the sides of his bed, already knowing his brothers would be there. They were staring at him, concern gleaming in their eyes. It seemed like lately, the only time he actually sees them is during the middle of the night.

"Alvin, are you okay?" Theodore asked, not expecting an answer, but still hopeful.

"Of course I am. Don't you worry about me Teddy-boy." Alvin faked a smile, reaching to ruffle Theodore's already messy hair. Using one of Theodore's nicknames felt wrong. It was something he only used, but he didn't feel like himself.

Simon and Theodore each sighed before returning to their beds. They didn't bother saying anything else, knowing it wouldn't end well for them. That, and they knew Alvin wouldn't say anything. They can barely get him to speak to them anyway. Every time they tried, Alvin just gave a quick response and returned to whatever he was doing.

Alvin knows they assume he's just being rude, that he's ignoring them, but he's not. He just can't stand to look at them anymore. Every time he did, a storm of negativity and self-hatred brewed, casting down its bolts and forcing him away from them.

He wished he wasn't like this, but he knew it had to be. If he stopped, things from nightmares would become a reality, and he did NOT want that. He wouldn't be able to live with himself. Heck, he can barely live with himself now.

He lives his life in fear of messing up. In fear of what would come if he made a small mistake. Due to this, he refuses to mess up, doing his best to avoid insults in any way he possibly can. He knows they're going to come anyway, but he doesn't want to give them justification. One of the problems with this is his lack of ability to concentrate. He spent an hour per page of homework, half of the time just trying to get himself to return his focus back to his homework.

The problem with perfection is that it's extremely stressful. You worry about not tripping over your own feet in fear of being called clumsy, you worry about getting every problem correct in fear of being called stupid, you try to avoid conversation in fear of being called annoying. There was one thing he couldn't control, though. One thing that was racking up insults.

His anger. He doesn't like it, a matter a fact he hates it, but he can't control it. All it takes is one thing, one little thing to trigger him. And when that happened, everyone knew it. He screams and shouts insults, making them as hurtful as he possibly can.

It was killing him, yet he couldn't do anything about it.

Whenever he got like that, his body took control before his brain. He spits out insults before he can think about it. He screams at himself to stop, but he just can't. It was like he was a robot. Following commands with no way to retaliate. He always regretted the words as soon as they left his lips, yet part of him didn't.

Part of him was happy. Part of him was proud.

And it was killing him.

It was like some crazy obsession he couldn't pull away. Anger was his drug. He knows he shouldn't and he is ashamed, yet there's a sick satisfaction he gets from it. He didn't want it, but whenever an insult left his lips, his shame always mixed with a gratification. He didn't know why it was there, but it filled him with guilt every time he felt it.

Due to this, whenever he snapped from his uncontrollable rage, he always made sure he was alone after. So no one would see him ashamed. So no one would see him in such a state of remorse. These spurts of anger, these trances, always ended with twice the fury of before. Any ounce of satisfaction left with the anger, leaving him in a puddle of emotions.

He was split between multiple personalities. He had his angry, hateful side, his broken side, and his old self. His old self is merely a shadow in the back of his mind he refused to allow to come into the light. He was too shamefaced to show that person. That being said, he wasn't proud of what he's become.

He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be anymore.

On one hand, he wanted to be that cheerful troublemaker again, but the other part of him could only criticize that person. Because of this, he didn't want to be that person. He _couldn't_ be that person. Not anymore.

He knows he's selfish, and he knows he's arrogant, he always has, but he never thought so badly of it. He knew those weren't good qualities to have, but he also had some good ones. He had just accepted that about himself and moved on, knowing it was just who he was.

But it's hard to be happy with yourself when every quality you were once proud of is ripped from your grip. He tried to hold on, he really did, but after a few weeks he got exhausted with fighting, eventually giving up. After that he just took it, not even trying to deny anything. He just allowed it to tear him down.

Speaking of tearing things down, he's been ripping everything he's spent years building apart within the past two months. His reputation was disappearing due to his silence, his athletic skill is coming to a halt due to lack of practice, and he was destroying every relationship he's built with insults such as:

" _Aw, did Miss Pretty Pink princess get something on her skirt? How tragic."_

" _Would you just shut up already? We don't care about what you got at the mall."_

" _English please!"_

" _Why do we care about you and Simon's nerdy experiments."_

" _You're such a shallow diva. It was one game!"_

" _If you're not going to do anything, can you leave and bake me something. At least then you'd be useful."_

" _Four-eyed freak!"_

" _Blah Blah Blah! Go talk to someone who cares!"_

" _Fatty!"_

" _You're so naïve. Being like that only sets you back in life."_

Alvin tried to rid of the burning in his eyes but was unsuccessful. He wasn't going to cry. He was NOT going to cry. Not after two months without it. He's lasted this long and he can go longer. He did want to cry, but that was for the weak. And he wasn't showing his weaknesses today.

He doesn't even know where the insults come from, he just spews them before he can filter. Every time he does, the looks of hurt and disgust is enough to make him hate himself all over again. Actually, hate is an understatement.

He loathed himself.

He could never understand why someone would torture everyone around him by allowing him to come to this earth. He was a waste of space, a jerk that never should've been born. If he wasn't here, everyone would be so much happier.

The thought was depressing, but Alvin didn't doubt it. After two months of being force-fed the insults, he just ate them without any retaliation, which there was a lot of in the beginning. What was the point in fighting if it was going to just keep coming? What was the point of fighting a force more powerful than yourself?

He stopped the cannons but kept his defense. Instead of trying to fight, he just built his walls higher to drown everything else out. It was working, but the walls were starting to crumble. He wasn't sure how much longer they could go, so he built them higher, covering and overlying the cracks of the other ones.

Despite this, damage was still being made. Sometimes the walls were too crumbled to just build over, so there are a few weak spots. Other than that, he had created a buffer from reality, an internal barrier to save from anymore emotional pain.

A couple people have tried to break through, but a single fire from him got them to stop trying and just leave him alone again.

 _Beep…. Beep... Beep…._

He slammed his fist down onto the snooze button, groggily rubbing his eyes and dreadfully rolling out of bed.

How had time passed so fast?

Ignoring the flying time, he stumbled to his closet, grabbing the first two things he saw, seeing as everything was the same. He snatched a small glance at the clothing, pausing as he realized something.

Red.

He tried to pick up his feet and continue to the bathroom, but his feet stayed planted in place. He didn't want to wear the sweater. He didn't want to wear the red sweater. The _red_ sweater. He sighed as he turned back to his closet, his mind only thinking about the sweater's color.

Red. The color of blood.

His mind flashed to the images of his brothers, each coating in the color. His signature color. After observing this, Alvin couldn't just slip on the sweater and go about his day. He opened the closet, scanning for some other sweater to wear, preferable a darker color. Blood stains show less on darker colors. Red, red, and more red. Was that all he _ever_ wore?

Dang. He needed some diversity.

He let out a defeated eye, turning around as something caught his eye. He hesitantly reached for it, clutching the inky black color of the sweatshirt. He debated whether he should wear it or not, knowing he was sure to get questions. Deciding to just ignore anyone who asks questions, he nodded, throwing his tomato-red sweater back into the closet and rushing towards the bathroom.

He always tried to be the first up and out the door, hopefully without anyone else approaching him. He didn't need that kind of tension and guilt so early in the morning.

Silently closing the door behind him, he hurried to do everything he had to, quickly slipping of his sweater and pajama shirt. He knew the bruises were there, so he didn't bother looking. He threw on the black sweater, which had a dark grey A on the front. He almost never wore this, only when he was acting as Lorenzo-Lorenzo, actor and spy.

After quickly brushing his teeth and doing his business, he peeked out of the bathroom. His brothers were starting to wake up, seeing as the alarm was going off again. He groaned, knowing he had to be quick. He broke into a beeline for the other side of the room, grabbing his bag and skateboard and running out of the room quicker than you could snap your fingers.

He sighed in relief when he made it to the hallway unnoticed. After a few seconds, he started creeping towards the staircase, skateboard in hand, his backpack slung over his shoulder. There was no smell wafting from the kitchen, so he could safely assume they were just eating cereal.

Well, Simon and Theodore were eating cereal.

As of lately, he hasn't been that hungry. It only took about five decent bites of something for him to last for two days. Part of this was also due to the fact food has lost its taste. Instead of the sugary rush of unhealthy cereal in the morning, he simply tasted bland cornflakes.

Dave and his brothers seem to have picked up on this, but they still forced him to eat, which extremely frustrated him. If he's not hungry, he's not hungry, and if he's not hungry, don't force him to eat. It's that simple.

He growled slightly at that, stepping off the bottom stair and looking around. No nagging father in sight.

He spun towards the door, running towards it as he prayed no one would stop him. He really doubted that would happen, but you never know.

"Hey Alvin, aren't you going to eat?" Dave asked in a stern, forceful tone. Alvin froze, jumping behind a corner in case he came out of the kitchen.

"How did you know it was me?"

"You're always the first down in the morning." His tone was dry and peeved, and while this upset Alvin in the slightest, he had gotten used to it.

"Oh, right," Alvin chuckled nervously, "No Dave, I'm just gonna head out."

"Alvin, you need to eat," Dave affirmed bluntly.

"If I don't want to eat, then I don't need to eat!" Alvin snapped, internally smacking himself.

"You know what Alvin? Fine. Just go." Alvin rolled his eyes, despite the feeling that had settled in his chest. He peeked around the corner, checking to see if Dave was still in the kitchen. Realizing he had never come out, he broke out into a dash for the door.

He cast a sad glance towards the kitchen before opening the door, slamming it shut behind him. He heard the house shake slightly, and the echo that roared throughout the house after. But, like everything else going on around him, he ignored it.

He pulled his phone out of his bag, checking the time. He had about fifteen minutes until the bus came, but he wasn't sure he wanted to wait that long. Deciding to take the lazy route, he leaned against the fence, lack of sleep catching up with him.

Seeing as he was supposed to drive with Dave today, he doesn't really have to worry about his brothers coming out. He stared down at the concrete, attempting to pull his cap over his head before realizing he never grabbed it. He moaned as he clenched his fists.

He bit his lip, tugging on his sleeve as he looked back towards his house. He missed talking to them. He missed the kick he'd get from their annoyed faces. He missed having fun and fixing things with his schemes and plans. He especially missed the group hangouts with the girls.

But he has noticed he's not the only reason he doesn't see the girls anymore. They have been purposely avoiding him, Brittany being above all. She was probably holding a few grudges. He noticed if they're hanging with his brothers and he comes in, they leave, claiming to have something to do. He sees the looks of hate and disgust, he sees the hurt looks he often receives.

Just another reason he stared at the ceiling at night, trying to piece together what was wrong with him.

He knows he's been a huge jerk lately, but he always has been. He knows he's been withdrawn lately, but why would you go out of your way to avoid someone you barely see to begin with? Any other time he wouldn't care, brushing it off like a piece of dust, most like sleuthing to find out what he did. Now, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

Maybe it was his arrogance. Or his attitude. Or his ego. He wasn't sure anymore.

 _Screech…Phssss…._

He snapped his head up, noticing the lemon-yellow vehicle now in front of him. He forced himself to pick up his feet, trying to rid of the pit in his stomach. He turned back his house and came up with an idea.

 _Maybe I could skip…._

 _Honk!_

He shook the thought away, hopping onto the bus and sliding into the seat usually occupied by him and his brothers. He plopped his bag next to him, telling everyone he didn't want to be bothered. He stared out the window, watching the green and white blobs whiz by. The trees could barely be seen before they disappeared from sight.

The blobs abruptly became trees and houses, causing him to look around the place in confusion. His brothers and him were usually the last stop, so why were they stopping? He hasn't ridden the bus in a while, but they haven't added a new stop since Amber moved into her mansion about a year ago.

He shrugged before turning back to the window. The bus shook from a few kids stumbling on, causing him to sway ever so slightly in his seat. He leaned against the cool, moist glass, tracing his finger along the window, leaving different designs in the glass.

He felt someone plop into the seat next to him and whipped around, a cross look on his face. After catching a quick glance of who it was, he turned back around, pushing himself in the corner slightly. He felt a slight poke in his side, causing him to squirm a little.

When multiple followed after that, he realized that the kid wanted a reaction out of him. So, instead of complying, he clenched his jaw and stared out the window, still as a statue. A few more jabs were sent to his side as he practically willed himself not to react.

He felt a small buzz in his pocket as he sent the kid next to him a look, eyebrows raised.

' _If you think you can ignore me you're going to be proved dead wrong.'_

Alvin rolled his eyes, swallowing his fear as he returned his gaze to his window. It was relaxing, watching the green blurs pass in silence, but despite the calm atmosphere, he was still extremely tense. He heard a small growl behind him, tensing a little more.

Two hands roughly grabbed his shoulder, whipping him around to meet the ice-cold glare of his attacker. A few people turned their attention towards them to where everyone was eventually watching them in anticipation.

Spike seemed to notice this as he quickly loosened his grip and shoved him into the window. Dusting himself off, Alvin stood up, grumbling as he did so. As everyone slowly turned their attention away from them, Alvin let out a sigh of ease, quickly shutting up when he saw Spike's glare.

The bus came to a sudden halt, lurching Alvin forward in his seat. Alvin glanced out the window, confirming they were at the school. The plaza had a decent amount of people chatting in it, but nowhere near as much as usual.

The storm of conversations continued as the first row of students started filing off. Alvin let himself get comfortable, seeing as they were going to be there a while. It always baffled him how long people take to get off the bus. You grab your stuff and get off; it's not rocket science!

He found himself occasionally looking over at Spike, checking to make sure he wasn't going to try anything. When it was their turn to get off, he made Spike get off first to avoid any future embarrassment.

Shoving his skateboard in his bag, he followed the long line of people stretching throughout the bus. He _finally_ got off the bus, walking straight to the school with no intention of stopping. He wasn't going to burden those around him with his lame conversations, so he didn't even bother with the thought.

He spotted his siblings and friends by the lockers, taking a deep breath.

Lecture time.

The hallway chatter fell silent as everyone's eyes landed on him. He squirmed a little, speeding up his walk to his locker. Silence became whispers, which was worse in his opinion. Knowing they were talking about you, yet unable to know what they are saying.

 _This is going to be a long day…_

Alvin sighed as he approached his locker. His muscles were tense and stiff as he turned the dial on the locker door, but he did his best not to show it. He risked a glance towards the group, who were looking at him with wide eyes and dropped jaws. He didn't blame them. He's worn red every day for years and now he's suddenly showing up in black.

But that didn't stop the annoyance from building.

He understands being a little shocked, but staring was completely unnecessary. He bit his tongue to keep himself from snarling at them. It got harder as a metallic taste filled his mouth.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer." There it is. He didn't say anything too bad, but it had the same effect.

"Alvin, what are you wearing?" Simon questioned him, a baffled and disappointed tone to his voice.

"Clothes." They groaned, silencing when they heard the buzz of a phone.

Alvin pulled out his phone, his expression blank.

' _You're a nobody. Everyone would be happier if you'd just drop dead.'_ For the first time in a while, since the texts started to be exact, he responded.

' _Would you just leave me alone?!'_

' _Nah, it's more fun this way.'_ Alvin groaned, slamming his locker and resting his forehead on it. He felt their eyes burning holes in his back.

He didn't stick around after that. He knew they weren't going to care enough to ask, not that he wanted them to. He stormed off, angrily rambling as he caught a glimpse of them rolling their eyes. While their lack of concern was hurting him, he simply rolled his eyes and growled.

* * *

He slid into his desk, careful not to hit his sore muscles. The second he relaxed in his chair, his anger melted away. While he hated his anger, part of him was glad he had it. It masked his emotions and was a fire in his otherwise empty and cold body. A fire he was beginning to crave.

 _Buzz._

' _Maybe that's why they hate you so much. Because you are so hard to be around. I'm surprised they've put up with you for this long.'_

He felt that oh-so-familiar pang in his chest. He simply shook his head and shoved his phone back into his pocket. He propped his elbows on the table, stressfully rubbing the sides of his face with his hands.

The warning bell rang, signaling everyone to their classrooms. Students filed in like ants, brewing a tornado in the once undisturbed place. Alvin caught bits and pieces of some conversations but didn't care enough to actually listen.

 _Ring!_

"Okay class, today I have a couple of…. quiet!" Everyone immediately turned their attention towards the teacher.

"Good. So today I have a couple of- "She was interrupted once more by the intercom. Miss Smith groaned as she rolled her eyes, heading to her desk.

"Hello everyone, hope you're having a wonderful Friday so far," Alvin rolled his eyes. He was having everything but that. "We've got a couple of announcements today. First off, we'll be having a school play in a few weeks. Auditions will be tonight. Contact your teacher for more information. Secondly, we're going to have a bullying expert come and educate about bullying- "

Alvin felt his breath hitch, which Theodore noticed and glanced over at him. Alvin didn't hear the rest of the announcement, he was too focused on the last part he heard. Bullying expert? Why? Why now?!

Would this person be able to scope him out? Reveal he was being picked on like a dinner plate?

Was it called bullying when you deserve it?

He didn't think so, so he was unsure what to call it. But that wasn't what he was worried about. What if someone saw the signs because of it? What would happen to them? What would happen to him?...

He slammed his head on the desk, creating a rather loud thudding noise throughout the classroom. He heard people groan all around him. They probably thought he was upset with whatever was just said. Theodore was looking at him in deep concern, unsure what to do. He knew something was really wrong with him, but no one would listen. Everyone else assumed he was just being a jerk. Whenever he tried to ask Alvin he either got snapped at, or Alvin just insisted he was fine.

Theodore was about to turn back to the board when something caught his eye. There was a dark purple bruise on the back of Alvin's neck that was barely visible. He tilted his head in confusion. Alvin must've noticed him because an angry scowl appeared on his face. Theodore shrunk back, turning his attention back to the board.

* * *

Lunch.

The second most dangerous part of his day. He had tried to stay in the classroom, but Miss Smith kicked him out. Now, he wasn't sure where to go. He didn't grab his lunch, and he didn't feel like interacting with others, so he decided against the lunchroom. Besides, he didn't feel like facing his siblings. Not that they would talk to him anyway. He knew he couldn't just hang around the hallways for long, so he went to the first place he could think of.

The library.

It was a dusty old place which he's only been once. The musty smell of books greeted him as he entered the chamber. The lighting was dim, just enough to read whatever you were reading, and books lined the old oak shelves.

He sat in one of the chairs, running a finger over the table. His finger had some dust on it when it came back up, but nowhere near as much as the shelves. He wiped the entire table down with his shelve, sitting in one of the chairs and pulling out his bag. No one else was around to talk to, and he had nothing better to do. He pulled out his homework, history and math being blank, science having all the answers filled, seeing as it was from the previous day and he just hasn't had time to turn it in.

He pulled out his history textbook so he could copy answers from it. He heard someone clear his throat behind him, trying to get his attention. He turned around, meeting the slate colored eyes of the librarian.

Her dry, wrinkly hands were resting on the telephone as she watched him. Her thin lips wore a scowl as she watched him, her glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. Her gray hair was up in a messy bun with two pencils sticking out of the top. Overall, she looked like the typical librarian.

"What are _you_ doing here?" She snapped at him, making him flinch. He wasn't welcomed anywhere.

"I'm, um, just doing my homework," He told her, watching as she rolled her eyes. She was one crusty old lady.

"Don't use that on me, I've heard all about you," She informed him, making him raise a brow at her.

"Seriously?! I've got my homework and textbook out, how much more proof do you need?"

She didn't respond, but he heard her mutter, "They were right about you being rude."

He felt his lips purse, his grip on his pencil tightening. He huffed and rolled his eyes, making her do the same. He had a feeling they were not hitting it off anytime soon.

* * *

The dismissal bell shrieked throughout the school, announcing to everyone that they were free from their daily learning sessions. Alvin was quick to jump up from his seat and follow the stream of students exiting the building. He did stop by his locker, but it was a quick trip, seeing as he had grabbed most of his stuff earlier in the day.

He ran out of the building, throwing his skateboard down onto the concrete and hopping onto it, speeding off towards town. He was heading towards the pet shop, seeing as he had gotten a job their late last month. That was when he realized he couldn't satisfy Spike's greed with chores alone.

He had looked all around town, looking for a job he could keep hidden. After a lot of pondering and thought, he decided on the pet shop. His family didn't own, and weren't planning on owning, any pets or animals, so he was safe there.

He made a decent amount of money, about thirty-five bucks a day. He had requested to receive his money daily instead of weekly. When he asked that, the manager gave him an odd look, asking why he would agree to do that.

"Because I need to buy food for the family next door on a daily basis, seeing as it is very large. They're in debt and could use some help," It was a stupid and poor excuse, but the manager bought it, and Alvin couldn't help feeling bad for lying. That guilt quickly passed when he received his first paycheck.

He had expected to get fired within the first week of working due to his new, fiery temper, which would've left him to search for a new job, but that never happened. Whenever he got really anger or annoyed with a customer, he bit his tongue and continued being nice, something that really puzzled him.

He could be nice and considerate to total strangers, yet he couldn't with his own family.

If possible, that made him feel worse about himself.

He stopped his skateboard, allowing it to fly into his hands as he pushed on the single glass door leading to the pet shop. The familiar smell of dog food and rubber rushed to his nostrils, the air-conditioned air of the place engulfing him as the door shut behind him.

"Well, let's get to work."

* * *

 **Hey guys! I know this chapter kinda took a different turn, but it will get better. You just have to hang with me. I know this is late, and I would like to apologize. For some reason, people decided they wanted to get me a life. I hope you enjoyed! Tell me what you thought, maybe things to improve. I don't know, I just like hearing your opinions on my writing.**

 **I also wanted to mention that I know that the outfit change does seem like a lot, but he does it multple times in the series. He has a habit of changing his change, and while it's usually his golfer-grampa outfit, it's too lightly colored for this. Anyway, that's all from me, hope you enjoyed!**

 **Peace Out!**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Alvinnn! And the Chipmunks or any of it's characters. Only Spike and the plot.**_

* * *

Alvin pushed open the door to the pet shop, stepping into the freezing cold air of the outside world. He was clutching a piece of paper tightly in his hand, fearing what would happen if he loosened his grip on it in the slightest.

Nothing eventful had really happened today, just a few angry customers. It annoyed him to no end how people always _just_ assumed he was out to get them.

He shivered slightly, rubbing his arms while grabbing his skateboard from his bag. He got out of work a little later today, so he didn't have too much time to get to the school. He sped off, putting his hood up and doing everything he could to keep the air from blowing in his face. It was early in December, so the air was practically sucking the warmth from his body.

He felt the well-known buzz in his pocket. He rolled his eyes, stopping so he could read it.

' _Mert mr behibf tje scgiol now'_

Alvin stared at the text, unsure what was being said. He sighed, shaking his head and shoving his phone in his pocket. He took off again, still trying to figure out what it had said. He knew it was some kind of command, he's figured that out, he just didn't know what.

He was still quite a bit away, so he hopes he doesn't upset Spike. He would only take about ten more minutes to get there, but Spike has proved to be a _very_ impatient person. He was about five minutes late once, and that end very badly for him.

But his want to care was slowly fading. At first, he worried and did whatever he could to avoid beat ups, now his ability to worry and care was fading into nothing. He wasn't saying he just go out and begs for a beating, but he doesn't fight it like he used to.

He was just losing the fight in him.

His family hated him. They still believed he was going to parties at night. They still believed he became a jerk just to become a jerk. To say the least, he was still kind of surprised they believed it. He kind of expected them to get suspicious by now.

 _They probably don't care. They're probably happy you're gone. Heck, they're probably throwing a party of their own._

He grits his teeth, pushing the thought to the back of his mind. This thing, this voice, kept coming and just insults him incessantly. He knew this wasn't just a normal occurrence, he just wasn't sure how he was supposed to stop it.

At this point, he was convinced he was going crazy.

He could actually talk to this voice, which is why he's pretty sure he's losing his sanity. He's almost even gotten into an argument with it. He's confident he can't even get rid of it. It just kind of came when it wanted, spewing insults at him before retreating to the darkest corners of his mind.

When it showed up, he just ignored everything around him, trying to get rid of the voice before he appeared crazy, which he was certain he was.

He saw the lights to the school coming closer with each second that passed. The lights were brighter than they usually were.

 _Damn it…_

Auditions were _still_ going. How long can those things possible even take? He rolled his eyes, groaning as he stuffed his skateboard in his bag. He checked the area, making sure no one was around to see him. Quickly creeping behind one of the corners, he scanned the area again.

His nose crinkled, the smell of body odor and sweat engulfing him. It nauseated him in the slightest as the smell became stronger. He rounded the final corner, unsure what to prepare for. The first thing he saw was Spike, standing there impatiently grumbling with his back against the wall.

He hasn't noticed Alvin yet, despite the face he was staring right at him. Alvin's eyebrows furrowed, a puzzled expression on his face.

"It's about time you little rat!" Spike slurred, his voice raspy yet intimidating. Alvin took a step back, watching Spike take another swing of whatever was in the bottle. A confused look shadowed Spike's face for a second before it became an angry one.

Alvin felt himself shake in the slightest. Spike took a step towards him as Alvin's hand quickly shot forward. He slowly extended his shaking hand towards Spike, taking a cautious step forward. Spike hastily snatched the money from his hand, examining what he had gotten.

"Not enough," He heard Spike grumble, but unlike the first time, he didn't bother to react. Spike says that every night, and the beating's worse if he retaliates, so he just stared blankly ahead, closing his eyes and preparing himself for the abuse he was about to endure.

 _One second._

 _Two seconds._

 _Three._

 _Then four._

 _Nothing came._

 _Then it did._

Pain course through his skull, his eyes instantly watering. His vision hazed for a few seconds before returning to normal. He collapsed against the wall behind him, slamming his eyes shut to keep the tears from spilling over.

He opened his eyes just enough to look in front of him. The bottle. That stupid bottle. It was coming his way again. He closed his eyes and buried his head in his knees. The pain in his head intensified as he became faint. There was blood running down his face from cuts the glass had left when it shattered.

Tears pooled his eyes, the pain was just becoming too much. All he could focus on was his head. It felt like some kind of inner demon was unleashed and was clawing at the sides of his skull. A few tears leaked, mixing with blood before hitting the floor.

He gagged, the smell from early worse than ever. Not only did Spike smell like body odor and perspiration, but his breath. His breath was worst of all. Alvin cringed as the bitter stench greeted him once more. Spike's face was close to his as Spike shot insults at him, giving him the… _pleasant_ stench every time he opened his mouth or breathed for the matter.

The stench just made everything else worse.

The hits were slowly softening, and the kicks were slowly fading, but Alvin still had that large pit in his stomach. _Something_ was going to happen tonight, he just wasn't sure what. The beating tonight was much shorter than usual, but it caused much more suffering than any other night has.

Everything suddenly came to a halt.

Alvin pushed himself farther against the cool brick.

"Look at me," Spike demanded. Alvin hesitantly did so, hugging his knees tighter. Before he could process what was happening, he felt something shove his head into the wall behind him. Pain surged his head for a second before his vision dimmed to black.

* * *

Theodore trotted out of the school, happily humming as a few others came out from behind him. Most were teachers, but there were a couple students in the mix. He could hear the doors close behind him, followed by the sound of jiggling keys and a lock.

Dave was picking him up, so he sat on one of the benches, wrapping his arms around him. He struggled to understand how Alvin could withstand the cold so well while everyone around him froze half to death. He leaned against the back of the bench, sitting back up from the cold sensation that greeted him.

He looked around the area, checking the time on his phone. Dave wasn't going to be here for about another ten more minutes, so he was going to be here a while. He checked the area again, looking for something of interest. He found nothing.

He sat there for a few more minutes, just staring in front of him while his mind wandered to whatever popped up, until something caught his eye.

He noticed a shadow running, more like stumbling, from the back of the school. His curiosity peaked, he quickly but hesitantly jumped up, heading to where he saw the mysterious figure. His footsteps echoed in the still air. His breathing sped up in the slightest, his anxiety increasing with every echo.

He shook his head, deciding that this was a mistake. He wasn't sure why someone would sneak around here at this time, but he wanted nothing to do with it. No one ever came to this part of the school. He wasn't sure why before, but now he had a pretty good idea. This place was really eerie.

Something caught his eyes, but he decided to ignore it. He turned on his heel, preparing to run from the alleyway, but noticed a shadow moving slightly in the corner. He wasn't sure what it was as he took a cautious step forward. It didn't growl or hiss, so it probably wasn't an animal of some kind. That's when it hit him. Whatever had happened, a _person_ was just left out in the cold.

He ran over, kneeling down and shaking the figure. The person was breathing, so the person obviously wasn't dead, but that did nothing to reassure him. The person was leaned against the wall, shivering with their arms relaxed by their sides.

Theodore started to panic, his eyes watering. He couldn't actually see who it was, but he could tell it was someone close to him. Him, his brothers, and the Chipettes were the only ones that short. The girls were at their treehouse, and Simon was on his way to get him, so there was only one other person this could be.

"Alvin?" He asked, shaking his brother frantically. Fear rose in him when he got no response.

"Alvin!" He cried, a few tears escaping and running down his face. Alvin stirred a little, but he got no other response.

He looked around, part of him hoping someone was around to help, even though he knew no one was. They probably all have rides by now. He was shaking as he felt around for his phone, his mind too scattered to remember which pocket he put it in. When he finally found it, he did the first thing that came to mind.

He called Simon.

"Hello?" He heard Simon's voice come through the phone. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. His breathing was heavy as the tears came harder.

"S-Simon?" He choked out, his voice shaking.

"Theodore?! What's wrong?!"

* * *

Alvin slowly started coming to, feeling something shaking him. He couldn't move, though, he could barely even open his eyes.

"S-Simon?" He couldn't make out who it was, but he heard it.

After a few more seconds, he heard, "It's Alvin. He's-he's," The voice trembled before stopping. Alvin's eyes shot open as he quickly jumped up. His vision blurred as he put his hand on the wall to keep his balance. His head was spinning and pounding as he tried to locate who was speaking.

He found a green blob a little bit from him. He hesitantly let go of the wall, shoving the person down and attempting to grab the object from their hand. He knew it was a cell phone, and he knew Simon was on the other line.

He finally grabbed the phone from Theodore's hand, holding his head to get rid of the massive headache.

"I'm fine. I don't know what Theodore's talking about," Alvin lied, struggling to get the words to leave his mouth. Black dots filled his vision as he collapsed onto Theodore.

"Alvin!" Theodore yelped, stabilizing him so he could stand again. Alvin was dazed as he slammed his eyes shut, trying to rid of the black specs clouding his vision. It worked, but he still felt like he was on the urge of passing out any second.

"What's going on?!" Simon's voice came over, strengthening the monster headache. Alvin let out a groan that could easily be passed as a groan of annoyance.

"Would you chill Simon? Nothing's happening." Alvin lied again, casting an angry glance towards Theodore.

"Then why did Theodore call me in tears?" Simon asked skeptically. He was onto him.

"He just got worried because he thought a car hit me," Alvin answered, sniffling on something and wiping his nose. He was glad he wore black today. It really did help cover the blood stains.

"I ducked out of the way before it could hit me, though," He continued in a boastful tone, even though it was the opposite of how he was feeling. He just wished a black void would open and he would fall through, never to return.

"Well, okay then. Can I talk to Theodore?"

"Um, sure, here he is," Alvin said slowly, nervously handing the phone back to Theodore. Theodore noticed his hand shaking slightly, but ignored it for the moment.

"Theodore, are you sure everything's okay?" Theodore glanced towards Alvin, who was silently pleading him. He let out a sigh before answering Simon.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Alvin facepalmed. Theodore has never been a good liar.

"Well, okay then, we'll be there in a couple of minutes." Simon sounded unconvinced as he spoke in an unsure tone. They heard the beeping sound, signaling the end of the call.

"What were you thinking?!" Alvin yelled, watching Theodore backpedal in response. He didn't care, though. Humiliation had converted to anger as he call had progressed.

"I just thought- "

"You thought what? Thought you could just rat me out, is that it?!" Alvin continued to scream at him, pacing back and forth while pulling at his hair.

"No, it's just- "

"Theodore, you could've gotten me killed!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't know.…" Theodore trailed off in a guilty tone.

"Theodore, you have to promise me you won't tell anyone,"

"Alvin, I can't do that. We have to get you help! How long has this been going on?" Theodore asked, a soft tone to his voice as he asked.

"Theodore, I'm serious, you can't tell anyone. Unless you actually want me dead,"

 _He probably does._

Theodore's eyes widened as he realized Alvin wasn't overreacting. Whoever did this would actually kill him. "Fine, I won't tell. But, "Alvin groaned," you have to tell if it gets too bad,"

"Theo, I've lasted two months, I think I can last," Alvin blankly stated, watching as Theodore frowned. Two months?

They heard a honking noise, making Theodore's eyes widen.

"Oh, Dave's here!" Theodore exclaimed, running towards the front of the school. Just as he was about to round the corner he stopped.

"Aren't you coming?"

"What? No way! It's bad enough you know,"

"Then how will you get home?"

"Same way I always do," He said, pulling out his trusty skateboard. "I'll meet you at home,"

"But it's cold,"

 _Beep!_

Dave's getting impatient.

"I've lasted this long," Alvin smirked before frowning. It just didn't feel right anymore.

"Well, okay then, bye Alvin, see you at home," Theodore said sadly. He wasn't sure Alvin could make it home in his condition.

"See ya, Theodore," He responded as he threw his skateboard on the floor and stepped on it.

 _Honk!_

Theodore sighed before running to the front of the school. He brainstormed ways to help Alvin without breaking his promise to him. Something told him this was going to be difficult. Really difficult.

"Theodore, what took you so long?"

"And why were you in the back of the school?" Simon added with a suspicious look.

"No reason, just thought I saw something," He stuttered, remembering his promise to Alvin.

"Where's Alvin?" Simon asked as the car started moving.

"What?!" He freaked, thinking they knew. Simon gave him an odd look before repeating his question.

"Where's Alvin? Wasn't he with you?"

"He, um, went to a party at Amber's, yeah that's it," He said the last part quietly, something he always did when he lied. Simon didn't seem to notice.

"When will he learn?" He heard Simon grumble. He bit his tongue to keep the truth from leaving his lips.

"Two months," Theodore whispered quietly.

He was silent the rest of the way home.

* * *

Alvin was freaking out.

Not just a little either. No, he was in full-blown panic mode.

How could he let Theodore find out? Theodore was sure to tell!

He has yet to leave the school, he couldn't move. He could barely even stand at the moment. He regrets not taking Theodore's offer, but he couldn't. It'd just make every worse. He shivered as he slumped against the wall again, pulling his hood over his head. He rested the back of his head against the wall, closing his eyes and praying for the headache to go away.

His lightheadedness consumed any motivation to move. He's tried to move, but every time he tried his muscles refused to move. He wanted to fall asleep right then and there, but knew he had to keep an eye on Theodore. Theodore is _not_ good at keeping secrets in any way.

His eyes started closing again, but he forced them to stay open. He let out a small sigh, knowing that if he didn't get moving soon he'd fall asleep. He tried to move again, but barely even twitched in response. He groaned, giving up and letting his shoulders sag.

 _Buzz._

He didn't bother reaching for it. It was probably just another drunk text.

Alvin woke up, feeling more lethargic than before. He let out a loud groan, shivering violently as he wiped away the tears that were streaming down his face.

Why him?

Why does he have to be the one plagued with nightmares?

Wasn't he already living one while he was awake?

His teeth chattered as he finally gave in. It took a few tries, but he finally got his muscles to move and cooperate with him. He stood up, nearly falling flat on his face. His legs were shaky as they tried to support his weight.

He picked up his skateboard back up, grabbing his bag, which was resting across the alleyway. He stuffed the skateboard in his bag, knowing there was no way he was going to be able to use it.

He made sure one hand was on the wall as he walked. Well, tried to walk. It was more of a hobble. He wasn't as dizzy as before, but now he was just weak.

He wasn't sure how long he was asleep, or what time it was, but he knew he was in huge trouble when he gets home. And when he says huge trouble, he means he'll probably never hear the end of it.

He pulled out his phone and turned it on, squinting and quickly turning off the beacon of light that nearly blinded him. At least that's what it felt like.

He noticed that while it was still _freezing,_ and while it was mostly still dark, there was a bit of light lining the horizon.

Damn, how long _had_ he been asleep?

He shook the thought and worry away, letting go of the wall for a second. He was fine for a few seconds before lightheadedness caught up with him. He could walk, he just had to take slow and steady steps. He just had to get across the plaza before he could have support again.

He groaned, holding his throbbing head in frustration. He was never getting home at this rate. He shook his head. He _was_ getting home.

He had to. If he didn't, Theodore was sure to spill, that was, if he hasn't already. He wasn't sure if Theodore knowing would prove to be a good or bad thing, but he definitely was not seeing any good in this.

 _What if Spike finds out Theodore knows?_

Spike told him no one could find out, and someone found out. He may not have told anyone, but he knew the consequences would be the same nonetheless. Spike would torture his brothers, then him. He wasn't sure if anything would happen to the girls. The thought never really crossed his mind until now.

He was just confused. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do anymore. Everything he did either made his situation worse or did nothing to help it. He wasn't sure if Theodore could keep his secret, or how long he could continue was a smile plastered on his face. He tried his best to make them genuine, but it just didn't feel right. It just didn't feel right to smile anymore.

Looking back, he doesn't smile too often anymore, he doesn't have any reason to. He only smiles when he either frustrates everyone around him, or…. Actually, that's it. And those were the fakest smiles he's ever given. While that _stupid_ of him is proud when the insults leave his lips, the other part isn't. He quickly becomes guilty, but quickly plasters a cocky smirk to hide it.

And no one's noticed.

You would think after two months of fake smiles and bad attitude they'd realize something was up. Haven't they noticed they've been using the same excuses? Haven't they noticed the night terrors that make him cry? Haven't they noticed how he just wishes he would fall off the face of the earth?

The answer is no.

They haven't noticed one bit.

 _That's because they don't care. If they liked you, maybe they would actually pay attention to you._

He tried to shake the thought away like always, but it stayed there, taunting him.

 _They hate you. They wish you would die as much as you do._

He stopped walked, pondering over the thought. He couldn't almost hear the smirk of whoever was speaking as they continued.

 _Just die already, Alvin. Make it easier for everyone else._

He felt his jaw clench, from his anger or the fact he was holding back tears he wasn't sure. He shook his head, finally riding of the voice and tears that were burning his eyes like fire.

He picked up his feet again, continuing to walk against the white fencing that lined the sidewalk.

How was Theodore going to react? He's a very sympathetic person, even towards those he hates. So will he be worried for him, or will he just laugh?

 _He'll probably laugh at you. You deserve everything you get._

He growled but allowed the voice to continue.

 _They don't love you. Theodore is probably happy. The devil himself is finally experiencing the hell he deserves._

Theodore's not happy. He can't be happy. He wouldn't be happy, would he? No! Yes. Maybe….

Alvin groaned, causing another pain to shot throughout his head.

Alvin _finally_ arrived at his destination. It took him literally forever to do, but he finally managed. He finally managed to make it to the house of people that may or may not know his secret. On second thought, maybe he shouldn't….

No, he was inert, lightheaded, nauseous, dazed, and extremely fatigued. He _was_ going to make it to his bed.

He checked the time on his phone, cringing.

 _8:32._

Dave is going to kill me.

 _Maybe I could climb the tree…._

A quick throb of the head quickly changed his mind. He frowned, but he knew that no matter what he did he'd be caught. Everyone is usually up by now, everyone besides him.

He was going to be a little embarrassed, and he was sure he was going to get in trouble, but those were completely normal by now. His world consists of constant stress and humiliation, he can stand a little grounding. But that's not the problem.

It was the blood.

He had blood on the side of his face. He had wiped away his tears and tear stains by now, so he didn't have to worry about that, and he's wearing a sweater that covers his bruises and blood stains, so it was just the cuts and blood he has to worry about.

He shook his head. He didn't care about impressing them anymore. He'll just say he got into a fight. It's not like they'd care if he got hurt anyway. They'd probably just pretend to care. That seems to be what they've been doing his entire life, and to say the least, he's sick of it.

He wasn't a baby. They could've told him they didn't care. There really was no need to lead him on, making him feel like they care. Then again, if they do that, it hurts more when reality comes to smack him in the face like a brick.

He took a deep breath, reaching for the mini knob. He sighed in relief when he found out it was unlocked, reluctantly turning it. Light flooded his field of vision as he instinctively covered his eyes with his hand.

Damn it. They're up.

He expected no less.

He slowly stepped through the door, gripping the sides tightly as he did so. He silently closed the door behind him, hoping not to draw attention to himself. That didn't seem to work, however, because he felt someone grab his arm.

He instantly tensed, squealing and jumping skittishly in response. He looked around him, a look of discomfort and distress on his face. He spotted the slightly blurred Theodore squeezing him tightly. He tried to worm out of his grip before just shoving him off.

Theodore let out a yelp of surprise at how hard Alvin had shoved him. Alvin stumbled forward, but kept his balance quite well. At least better than before.

"Alvin, what happened to you?" Alvin's head snapped up, meeting multiple different colors of blurs. He wasn't just seeing blobs of color anymore, so that's improvement. Simon sounded worried, which surprised him slightly.

 _That's not going to last long…_

"I got into a fight at the party," he lied. He tried walking past him, but rammed into someone. He looked up to find out it was Dave.

"Not so fast Alvin, you have some explaining to do," Dave told him sternly.

"For what?!" Alvin asked, annoyed. He put a hand on his head, looking at the five others currently present.

"I don't know, maybe for not even bothering to come home yesterday, or not coming home until 8:30 the next morning. Theodore was worried sick." Alvin frowned. Only Theodore was worried, and he highly doubted that.

"Yeah right," He scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Alvin, why do you reek of alcohol?" Simon asked, his tone skeptical and disillusioned.

"I, um, had a few drinks at the party," He lied before he could even process what he was saying. He bit back the urge to groan at his own stupidity.

 _That was so stupid, but it's no surprise coming from you._

Alvin clenched his teeth, his hands forming fists.

"Alvin, you are so- "Alvin didn't even bother listening to the rest. He already knew what was going to be said. 'You're so irresponsible,' and 'you're only twelve.' He didn't even see the point in listening anymore.

The voices got louder as a few things got through to him. Same things he expected. 'Reckless behavior,', 'you're grounded,', all the good stuff. There was one thing that stood out to him, though.

"This is so typical from you Alvin. I raised you better than this." He wanted to react. He wanted to scream and deny it. He didn't react, though. He stood there, face flushed red with his hands clenched by his sides.

"Are you even listening?" Dave asked.

"No." How could they believe he was stupid enough to get drunk at twelve? Did they really think he was that stupid?

 _You don't want me to answer that._

"You know what Alvin? Go to your room."

"My pleasure," Alvin grumbled, quickly rushing past him to hide the tears of anger forming in his eyes. He was shaking slightly, but no one seemed to notice. He stomped up the stairs, refusing to turn back. Then he felt a small tug on his sleeve.

"What do you want?" He growled at Theodore, who recoiled in the slightest.

"Can I talk to you? Please?" The look in Theodore's eyes was tempting, but it didn't work. Not in the slightest.

"No, I don't want to talk to you. In fact, I never want to talk to you again!" Alvin screamed at him, shoving him back.

"If he's going to be a jerk, let him be a jerk." He heard Simon say as he dragged Theodore away. Everyone else gave him a look of disgust before following them.

He shook his head, his anger slowly fading as he watched them walk away. He kept up the act, though, continuing to stomp up the stairs. The tears of anger became tears of shame and despair, just like every other time.

He refused to allow them to fall. He didn't want to. He didn't want to be weak.

He made it to his room, slamming the door behind him and sliding down it. He managed to convince them he was drinking, and he yelled at the person that was keeping his secret. What kind of person does that?!

A stupid person, that's who.

He glanced up from his hands and looked towards his bed. With no hesitation, he stood up and started walking towards it. He went through all that trouble to get to it, he _was_ getting to it.

He quickly hopped on, melting into the comforter. The bed was _much_ more comfortable than the brick wall he fell asleep against. He closed his eyes, ready to go to sleep, yet something wouldn't let him.

Anxiety maybe…

He flopped on his bed, letting out a deep sigh.

Could his life get any worse?

Yes, the answer was yes.

But he didn't know that yet.

* * *

 **Hey guys! I know this chapter is a little late...okay, a lot late, but life is being annoying lately. This chapter, I'll admit, wasn't my best, but it will prove to be very important (for obvious reasons). I was very nervous about uploading this chapter though, you have no idea. I did write this in this style for a reason though. Spike's motivations were hinted some more in this chapter, see if you can find it.**

 **Comment! Tell me your opinions! You have _no_ idea even close to how happy they make me.**

 **Anyway, nothing more to say besides...**

 **Peace Out!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Before you read, I have to say that I have NO clue what that beginning was and why I was so obsessed with each sentence having it's own line, it just kinda happened. Anyway, enjoy!**

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Alvinnn! And the Chipmunks or it's characters. I just own Spike and the plot.**_

* * *

A week.

It's been a week.

A week since Alvin has even looked at Theodore.

A week since Theodore walked into something he shouldn't.

Theodore knows more than he should.

Yet, he still doesn't know that much. Just enough to bust him.

He has to talk to him, but something kept him from doing so.

Something in the back of his mind.

The mortification of being caught.

The depression he's afraid will crash around him.

The anger that's bubbling inside him.

It's building. It's worsening. He's become violent. Not much, just a push or shove every now and then.

But it was enough to hate him even more.

No, hate didn't do what they felt justice.

They despised him. They hated his guts. They despised what he's become. But who's to say they didn't hate him before?

They don't seem to realize they're making everything worse. Their glares don't help. Their sarcastic comments don't help. If anything, it fuels the flame even more.

But they don't care.

They don't care about him.

But he's not surprised, not anymore.

That part of him left a long time ago. He wished that it hadn't, though. That he could feel something other than the usual, but that's not going to happen. At least not to him.

Everything was the same. The same shade of gray. No color, no nothing. Just a haze of silver that followed him wherever he went.

But he doesn't want that to change. He's almost scared of change. Everything was in routine, everything just stayed the same, so why change that? Why change something when you are already in a good place? Well, he wasn't in a very good place, but he didn't expect any more than what he got.

He's actually very happy with where he was, karma-wise. He's insulted everyone, dragged them into his schemes, woke them up in the middle of the night, destroyed their things, hogged the spotlight, annoyed them with his ego; he deserves everything he gets. It's not like there's a chance of changing things.

Not that he would ever go for it.

He wasn't holding back his brothers anymore.

They were happy, so he was happy.

But they were never happy around him, not anymore.

He never sees them smile in his presence. Theodore always frowns and looks away. Simon's smile immediately became a scowl; his once kind eyes become livid. Simon's mouth opens to spit out insults at him. Occasionally he doesn't even do that, acting as if Alvin wasn't worth wasting any air on.

He may be overdramatizing everything; it was something he's always done, but he didn't he was over this. That spark had faded last week, quickly becoming a burning blaze of bitter reality that burned like no other. He wishes he was still overdramatic so he could brush things off as that.

But he couldn't, so he was stuck with reality.

 _Yes, and the reality is that you are a jerk that no one wants to be around._

He felt his stomach lurch forward, but wasn't sure if it was from the insult.

His hand shot up, dancing in the air as a sign of urgency.

"Yes, Alvin?"

"May I be excused?" He asked, clutching his stomach.

"I don't know, are you going to skip class again?" Alvin rolled his eyes and frowned. He had done that once, but he had to take over for someone else that day. He felt a fire start to slowly creep up his throat.

"No, not," He stopped for a second, swallowing the foul-tasting liquid. "not this time."

"Fine, but you better come back," Alvin nodded, quickly jumping up and running from his seat to the door. He wondered why they didn't bother asking what he was doing but shrugged it off. He had more important things to be dealing with at the moment.

Thanks to the 'wonderful' weather recently, Alvin has managed to catch the horrendous flu. He wanted to and almost did, use it as an excuse to skip, but didn't. He wasn't sure what would happen if he skipped a day, but he didn't want to find out.

He burst into the bathroom, ignoring the strong stench of urine and slamming one of the stalls behind him. He quickly locked, hunching over and releasing what he's been holding down.

His head was pounding, his hands were clammy, and vision was blurred by tears.

He gripped the bowl tightly, a shiver running down his spine. His stomach started to settle down, his retching lessening with every second that passed. He sat there for a few more seconds, his breathing heavy as he struggled to calm himself down.

 _In. Out. In. Out._

He felt a few tears trickle down his face and quickly wiped them away. He slowly stood up, his legs shaking. He leaned against the stall for a few seconds before flushing the toilet and slowly unlocking the door.

He walked towards the mirror to fix himself up. He looked up, frowning and sighing. The bags under his eyes were prominent, a smoky black that clouded his under eye, his face was mostly pale except for the rosy tint that was spread across his cheeks. His eyes were bright red and tired looking, and you could see the trails the tears left, not to be confused with the sweat that was coating his face.

He shivered a few more times, noticing a small trace of vomit on his lip. He quickly wiped it away with his sleeve, taking a deep breath and cringing. He turned on the cold water, cupping it in his hands and shivering some more. He splashed the water onto his face, feeling the cooling liquid on his burning skin.

He let his hands fill up again, putting his lips to the water and swishing it around his mouth. He spits it back out, shutting off the water and feeling the wall for paper towels. He closed his eyes to keep water from entering them, keeping his face over the sink. He growled once, frustrated when he couldn't find the dispenser. His hand started moving quicker. He finally found it, pushing down the handle and ripping off the thin brown paper towel.

He pats his face dry, tossing away the nearly tearing paper. He jumped down from the counter, ignoring the unsettles feeling that was already returning. He took a deep breath, opening the door and walking out. He didn't rush himself with returning to the classroom, seeing as he never knew when he would have to turn back around. It was only noon, and he's already asked to be excused more times than he could count.

He let out a dry cough, enhancing the scratchy feeling that had settled in his throat earlier in the day. He closed his eyes, too lazy to do anything else.

His muscles were still tense as if the ache and enervation weren't enough.

His opened his eyes, finding the classroom door in sight. He let out a small sigh, emitting a small cough as he walked closer. He swallowed thickly, ridding the urge to cough for the moment. He took a deep breath, pushing the door open and rushing to his seat before he could turn back.

He sank into his seat almost instantly, his muscles relaxing in the slightest. He rested his head on the desk, too tired and lazy to keep his head up. He had stayed up throughout the night, sick, as if he wasn't already lacking in the knowledge department. This world showed no mercy.

He didn't want to go to sleep, though. That gave him a chance at detention, and that resulted in him being late for work. And he couldn't have that. He's been a little slower with his work lately from his insomnia, so he couldn't take any chances.

Because he _did not_ feel like getting fired.

But it wouldn't hurt to let his eyes rest, would it? What damage would that do? None. So he closed his eyes, allowing himself to drift off in a couple different directions of thoughts.

He shot up, startled by the bell that had just blasted his ears off. He looked around, wincing at the migraine that greeted him. He gritted his teeth, making a barely noticeable hissing noise. He looked around. His mind was drifting as he tried to refocus himself.

"It's lunchtime, Sleeping Beauty," Brittany addressed him, a large amount of venom and sass in her voice. He was still surprised, though. Everyone has refused to talk to him in forever. He almost smiled.

Almost.

He hummed, letting her know he had heard her. His head fell forward as he eyes started slipping closed again. He quickly caught himself with a small sigh.

He needed a nap.

He rubbed his eyes, standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder. He looked down at his desk, noticing a few new papers resting on it. Guess he passed out. He threw the papers in his bag, slowing walking out of the classroom.

He walked into the half-empty hallway and made his way to the library.

At least that's what he had planned.

But his body had other plans.

He clamped a hand over his mouth, quickly turning on his heel and pushing through the small crowd of people that remained. He swallowed thickly, cringing as the bitter tasting bile as it ran back down his throat. It came back, too stubborn to be ignored. People were giving him looks, but he ignored them.

They'd thank him later.

Actually, they probably wouldn't. They'd probably scream at him for getting in their way.

He shook the thought away, his stomach doing flips. If his hand wasn't there, the sparkling white marble floor wouldn't be so sparkly. And that was, to say the least.

Someone was in the bathroom washing their hands when he entered, but he ignored them. A few tears escaped his eyes. He took the hand off his mouth, releasing what he's been holding down for the past two minutes.

His head throbbed.

His head was fire.

His body was ice.

He wasn't sure when, but he felt someone else's presence behind him.

"There there, just let it out," Of course it was him. The only person he never wanted to see again. Well, he didn't want to see any of them again, so the one he didn't want to see the most.

The acrid bile stopped, but it appeared his stomach didn't realize that as he continued to dry-heave over the toilet.

"Th- Theo?" He heaved again.

"I'm here, I'm here," Theodore told him, his voice quieter the second time.

"What are you doing here?" Alvin asked him breathily, standing up and flushing the toilet before exiting the stall.

"I had to go to the bathroom," Came Theodore's reply. Alvin rolled his eyes, going to the mirror and doing the same thing he did earlier in the day.

"Alvin, we need to talk," Alvin visibly tensed after hearing those words, taking in a sharp breath. Ever since the… incident about a week ago, he's been avoiding Theodore like a plague. Theodore _has_ tried to approach him many times over the past week, but he'd just ignored him and walked away every time.

Alvin opened his mouth to protest, but shook his head, too tired to get into something over this. He'll just let Theodore say what he has to say then walk away. Actually, he could just walk away now. He nodded and turned around. He opened the door, scanning the abandoned hallway.

"Alvin, I can't keep this a secret any longer," Alvin became stiff and his face blanked. He said nothing.

"Alvin?"

"Theodore, if you dare tell anyone, I swear you _will_ regret it."

"What?" Theodore's voice was higher than usual, something Alvin noticed but paid no attention to.

"Theodore, if you know what's best for you, you will stay out of this," Theodore took a small step backward. He sounded intimidating, he sounded _threatening._

Alvin knew he was being harsh, and that it must be hard for Theodore too, but he couldn't let Theodore spill this. He didn't want to know what happens when you ignore Spike's orders.

That didn't go over too well last time.

"Alvin, this is killing you inside, I just know it,"

"Well you're wrong. I happen to be just fine. That night was just a fluke." Alvin nearly cringed as he said that last part.

 _A fluke? That's the best you could come up with? Wow, you're even dumber than I thought._

His eyes fell to the floor for a second before he looked back up, staring Theodore straight in the eye with a challenging look in his eyes.

"Alvin-"

"No, _Theodore_ , if you tell anyone, I will be dead before anyone can help me," Alvin said those words in such a serious, dark tone that Theodore took another step back, much bigger than last time.

"But- "

"No buts, Theodore. I- "He was interrupted by the first bell, signaling recess.

"Oh, come on!" Alvin groaned, throwing his hands up.

He wiped a bit of sweat rolling down his forehead, rubbing his eyes.

"How ya feeling?" Theodore asked as he took a step closer.

"Like hell," Theodore winced. Alvin never, _never_ cussed.

Alvin felt a cold hand on his forehead. He jumped skittishly and jumped back. After seeing the look Theodore was giving him, he cracked a nervous grin, taking a cautious step forward. He felt the hand again. He wished it would stay there forever, the hand chilly against his burning skin, but like all the other hope from his life, that quickly left.

"Alvin, I think you need to go to the nurse,"

"What? No way! They'll send me home!" Alvin exclaimed, acting as if Theodore was an idiot. Theodore gave him a puzzled look. He _doesn't_ want to leave?

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"No! I don't want to know what happens if I skip,"

"I don't think it counts if you're sick."

"I'm not afraid of the school, Theodore," Alvin stated simply, feeling a small inkling of thirst.

"Then what _are_ you afraid of?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Alvin dodged. He wasn't telling Theodore any more than he had to.

"But you need to."

"Oh yeah? And what makes you say that?" Alvin asked, crossing his arms.

"You're changing. Whatever is happening is changing you, and I don't like it!" Alvin raised a brow at him. Theodore sounded like a child.

"And your point?"

"You need help." Alvin rolled his eyes. Of course, Theodore brought it back to that.

"I don't need, nor do I want any help," Alvin stated, glaring at Theodore.

"Yes you do! I mean, you're sick and refuse to tell anyone!" Theodore exclaimed, waving his hands around as he spoke.

Alvin opened his mouth to protest but felt something else coming up his throat.

The second bell sounded above them.

Alvin cursed in his head.

 _You're going to be late again._

 _He_ taunted. Not only did _he_ insult him to no end, but he also caused an overwhelming amount of anxiety.

"This is what I mean, Alvin!"

"I don't know what you're talking about,"

The bell wailed again.

"Oh, curse me!" Alvin exclaimed, "Theodore, we need to get back to class quick."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"You're sick."

"And your point is?" Theodore let out a sigh, finally giving up.

"Okay, let's go." Alvin nodded, knowing he had won.

Things were silent from there, and Alvin was quite happy about it. He didn't want to be talking to anyone, much less today. He listened to the echo their feet were making in the tranquil hallway. It was relaxing and painful at the same time. He cupped his hands lightly over his ears, stopping the additional pounding the footsteps were causing.

Alvin spotted the door to the classroom, rushing towards it and away from Theodore. Theodore sped up to keep up with him. Alvin rolled his eyes; couldn't Theodore just take a hint already?

Alvin abruptly stopped, staring at the door.

 _They're going to stare. They're going to judge._

"What are you waiting for?"

"Nothing, let's go." He responded. He pushed the door open. Staring, confused looks, wide eyes. Yup, everything he had expected. He clenched his fist, doing his best not to react to the pressure that was taking over.

"Alvin, Theodore, where were you? I expect this from you, Alvin, but you, Theodore?" Alvin rolled his eyes. They didn't even ask why he was out, only Theodore.

 _That's because they like Theodore just as much as they hate you._

"Alvin!"

"Mhmm, what?" He asked, looking towards his ticked teacher.

"Is what Theodore said true?" Alvin panicked. He cast a quick look towards Theodore, who was nodding at him. He noticed the others glaring at him but ignored that. He looked at Miss Smith again, slowly nodding.

She seemed to take that, turning back towards the board and continuing her teaching.

* * *

"Hey, Mr. Hensworth! Sorry, I'm late. Work just kinda slipped my mind." Alvin explained, jumping down from his bed and rushing to grab his skateboard across the room. He kept his eyes glued to the door the entire time, assuring no one came in.

"Alvin, you sound terrible,"

"Really? I'm fine," Alvin lied. He had nothing left in him to throw up, so that left him to dry-heaving. That lead to major coughing fits.

"Alvin, you can't come in today,"

"Wh-at, why?!" Alvin asked, praying the boss didn't hear how his voice cracked.

"You're sick. I can't risk you coming in and getting other employees and customers sick,"

"You don't understand! I- "

"Alvin, you're not coming in today and that's final." Alvin sighed. There was no point in fighting. This was his boss, so of course, he had to listen.

"Yes, sir."

"Good boy. See you soon, kid." Alvin rolled his eyes at him before hanging up the phone.

He flopped back dramatically on his bed. He wished his boss had let him come into work, but the comforter just seemed to be calling to him. He let himself relax a little, his muscles feeling worse than ever before.

That's going to be fun this evening, now isn't it?

He stared at the ceiling, part of him relieved that his boss refused to let him go.

He finally got a break, even if it was just for a day.

 _You're being stupid, little boy._

What? What was _he_ talking about?

 _You go to work for money. Now, you have no money for Spike. And if you have nothing to give Spike, he might just finish you off._

Alvin's eyes widened as he realized _he_ was right.

He had nothing to give Spike.

His drowsiness left him as a burst of energy shot through him. He hopped down from his bed, stopping when he realized he had no idea on where to start. What was he supposed to do? Simon surely wouldn't lend him any money; same could be said for the others. He could ask Theodore, but then he'd have to explain why he needed it, and it was best if Theodore was kept on the down low.

He paced his room, biting his nails as they wiggled slightly in anticipation. Why did he have to get sick?

He wasn't even sure why he got sick suddenly. He went out into the cold weather every night, and it wasn't like he ate anything bad, he didn't eat enough for that, so why was it so different so suddenly? Maybe his body's given up on him.

It's not like he blamed it. He nearly has too.

Alvin moved his hand to his oily, slightly damp hair, running his hand through it before stopping. He clutched large handfuls of it on the top of his head, tugging it as if it would pull a usable idea out of his head. But he had no such luck.

 _Face it; you've got nothing._

While he normally would be angry at _him_ for bothering him like this, he just shook his head. It was right, there was nothing he really could do. He still hadn't paid Theodore back, so no one would trust him enough to give him anything.

 _Maybe if you weren't such a jerk they would've lent you some cash._

Alvin flopped on his bed once more, letting out a small groan as he bit his lip. Tears were forming in his eyes. He let out a dry cough. He coughed a few more times, harder and deeper each time. At this point, he was surprised he wasn't coughing up a lung.

He heard someone run up the stairs and towards him. Most likely Theodore, seeing as Simon and Dave were out.

 _Buzz._

And here he was, thinking he and gotten a day off. He rolled his eyes, pulling out his phone and skimming the words on the screen.

' _Why'd you keep leaving class? Too scared to be around me? Wouldn't surprise me, wimp.'_

Alvin rolled his eyes once more at this kid's ego. This is what he was afraid of with skipping school. Spike would think he was scared of him and would get increasingly worse. But Spike was right. He _was_ scared of him, scared to death actually, but he didn't show it. He doesn't show his fear. Instead, he just kind of dazes off until it's over.

He hopes maybe one day he'll never escape the daze.

That'd be nice. Living in a nice, carefree world where you can't feel any pain.

"Whatcha reading?" Alvin jumped three feet in the air. He looked towards Theodore. He blinked once, clearing away the tears he didn't even know were there. He hadn't realized until now that he was staring at his screen, barely blinking in a distant gaze. He quickly shut off his phone.

"None of your business," Theodore didn't push. That wouldn't end well for anyone.

"Are you okay?" Alvin gave him a puzzled look. "I heard you coughing. Didn't sound too good."

"I'm fine," Alvin responded, barely even noticing how bad he actually sounded. His voice was raspy and hoarse, cracking every time he spoke.

"You don't sound fine." Alvin let out a groan, trying to swallow his urge to cough. It didn't work as he broke into another fit, the urge for water tickling his throat every time he coughed.

"What are you doing?" Theodore asked when Alvin jumped down from his bed.

"Getting something to drink." Alvin said in a 'duh' tone.

"No, you go back to bed. I'll go get the water," Theodore told him. Alvin didn't feel like fighting him, so he just gave Theodore a half-hearted glare before jumping back onto his bed. Jumped down for nothing.

 _You shouldn't make him do things for you. You_ want _them to like you. And with how you've been lately, I'm surprised Theodore still wants to help. That's probably because he pities you. No one cares enough to actually help you to help you. Time to face reality, kid, they don't care._

Alvin turned to where Theodore previously stood, opening his mouth to object to Theodore's actions. He frowned, seeing as Theodore was no longer there. Alvin lazily rested his hand on his head, closing his eyes and embracing the darkness.

"Here." Theodore held out a bottle of water to him. Alvin quickly snatched it away, unscrewing the cap and chugging the water. He nearly smiled as he felt the water slither down his throat. The tickle in his throat stayed there, but his throat no longer felt like a desert.

That being said, it still was not the best of ideas.

Not at all.

It was only a few seconds later he found himself darting towards the bathroom.

It was a clear liquid.

There was nothing _for_ him to throw up. Nothing but the water.

His stomach ached. He was hungry, he just realized. He needed to eat _something._ He just wasn't sure he'd be able to hold it down. He ignored the thought, clutching the edges of his sweater and shivering. He heard Theodore come up behind him, along with a car door slamming outside.

"Dammit!" He cursed as he wiped his mouth. Theodore made a face next to him, but he ignored it.

Couldn't anything go right today? Guess not…

He quickly swallowed everything down and wiped his mouth again. To say the least, that did _not_ feel good.

He quickly did his routine from the bathrooms at the school before rushing out of the bathroom. He quickly jumped onto his bed, laying against his backboard and grabbing his phone. He turned on his phone, his scowl deepening at the message that was sprawled across his screen.

 **Two new messages from unknown.**

He opened the phone, his fingers dancing on the numbers before his screen unlocked and showed his messages from Spike.

' _If Simon is smart, and Theodore is sweet, what are you?'_

' _I'm pretty sure the devil is nicer than you!'_ Alvin didn't turn off his phone and ignore them like he usually did. Instead, he scrolled up a bit, reading a few more.

' _I feel so bad for your brothers. I mean, if your freak face wasn't enough, you were over-confident. If I was them, I would've rid of you long ago.'_

' _No wonder everyone hates you! You're a heartless creature that annoys everyone around him.'_

' _Why do you even try? Nothing you try works.'_

He continued scanning through them, his eyes glued to the screen. He hated these messages, wanted nothing more than to get rid of them, but they reminded him of the reason he even agreed to do this in the first place.

His brothers.

He continued scrolling, feeling no urge to stop. It was like even text gave his actions dignification, even though it didn't. This was going to make him feel worse than ever when the guilt comes crashing back down with these thoughts swirling in his head, but the thought was helping in the present.

Theodore had gone to greet the others, so he was alone. Alone with his thoughts. His thoughts were something he hated being left to. They were a dangerous area to invade, which is why he builds his wall so sturdy.

He shut off his phone, resting it on the nightstand next to him. He grabbed it again for a second, turning it on and scanning the time at the top.

 _5:47._

He let out a dramatic groan and flopped back onto the bed.

Without stacking shelves and scanning items, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to spend his time. It was weird, that he wanted nothing more to go back to it. He usually complained about work, but it did keep him busy enough to forget everything taking place outside of the store.

Then there's the staff drama.

The staff drama was like nothing else he's ever experienced, and that's saying _a lot._ He's been in rumors, he's had a crush, he's dealt with bullies such as Derek, he's even watched people betray each other, but none of that compared to what happened in the store behind closed doors.

Screaming, rumors, gossip, love triangles, betrayal; this place had it all. He wasn't even sure how half of it even happened, he just knew it was satisfying to watch. He never got involved, half of the people didn't even know he existed. This did upset him at times, but he was ultimately glad about it.

"Alvin, can you come down here for a second?"

Alvin paused. They never invited him down with them. They just let him warm leftovers.

So, this could only mean one thing.

He was in trouble.

Big, big trouble.

Great. Just great.

* * *

 **Hello from the other side! Okay, I had to. Anyway, what did you think? I personally didn't like it and feel like I let everyone down with it, but that may just be me. I made him sick for many reasons for many reasons. One being, I barely mentioned symptoms and it didn't have _too_ much of an effect on his behavior. This is to show he doesn't take care of himself. I always put stuff like that, just letting you know in case you're not seeing them so it doesn't get super confusing. Also for those English gurus, I know my grammars off. I did most of it for a reason, so don't judge.**

 **Things will get worse next chapter. And those people who want Alvin-Dave interaction, you're going to get some. Not sure how much, but I will soon. But you guys have to wait, just because I'm just that evil.**

 **Sorry about the lack of updates, I had a little writers block in the beginning in this chapter. My life has been kinda chaotic.**

 **Anyway, sorry for the long authors note and excuses, I know they don't help anything. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!**

 **Tell me what you thought!**

 **Peace Out!**


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Alvinnn! And the Chipmunks or any of it's characters.**

* * *

Alvin trudged down the stairs, doing his best to keep a straight face, despite the dread seeping into the back of his mind.

 _They're angry. They're going to punish you. They're going to hate you even more._

Alvin was confused. He wasn't even sure what he did.

 _What haven't you done? You cause trouble; it's what you do. You are the definition of trouble!_

He tugged on his sleeve.

 _You have every right to be nervous. They're probably going to scream hateful things at you._

He fought the urge to cover his ears. He knew it wouldn't help, and it'd make him look insane.

 _You ARE insane! Anyone who can hurt so many people around them without feeling any regret must be crazy. On second thought, it could just mean you're cruel and heartless, which you are._

He tugged his sleeve a little harder.

He reached the bottom step, looking at the now set table. It was set with the classic dinner of carrots and peas. His stomach churned at and yearned for the food at the same time. He needed to eat, but he didn't want to.

Three pairs of eyes were watching his every move. He closed his own, taking a deep breath and continuing towards his chair.

 _Notice the looks of disappointment in their eyes?_

Alvin bit his lip, tugging his sleeve over his hand.

He jumped into his chair, Dave nodding at him as a greeting.

 _You see that? He doesn't even think you deserve a hello. How sad._

"Now that you're all here, I have some news." There was a happy tone in his voice, and Alvin allowed himself to relax in the slightest.

"What did Alvin do this time?" Simon asked with an annoyed tone, casting a quick glance towards Alvin. Did he not hear the same tone he did from Dave?

The thought caused him to tense again, preventing him from any further reaction.

"No, it's not that," Alvin let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Simon cast him a suspicious glance as he did his best to ignore the eyes burrowing into his soul. But if Alvin wasn't in trouble, then what did Dave want with him?

Not like they care enough to invite him to anything, to even be nice to him for the matter.

"So, you guys remember Grandma Sally and Grandpa Paul?"

Everyone nodded, unsure where this was going.

"Well, they're coming down with the rest of the family for Christmas! Isn't that great news?" The other two looked so happy about the news, but he couldn't bring himself to be.

He stayed silent.

"What about you, Alvin? Aren't you excited?"Alvin paused, not expecting the sudden question.

"Ahuh, great." There was a sarcastic tone in his voice, something that grabbed everyone's, mostly Theodore's, attention.

Alvin was always excited for relatives to come over at Christmas. 'More presents' as he had put it.

Alvin pushed his plate in front of him, his already faint appetite faded completely.

"Alvin, we've gone over this, you need to eat."

"I don't want to eat." Alvin crossed his arms over his chest, making it clear he was annoyed.

"Alvin, eat. Now."

 _Oh no, he's raising his voice. He's angry, he's going to hit you._

Alvin felt his stomach lurch, whether from the thought or not he wasn't sure. He was too angry to think about it, though.

He hastily grabbed his plate again, reaching for his fork and roughly stabbing one of the peas, causing a loud clatter to be heard throughout the dining area. He shoved the peas from his fork into his mouth, shoving the plate in front of him again. A few peas spilled over the edge at the sudden action, but Alvin paid no attention.

"There, happy?"

"No, no, I'm not. You can either sit there until you finish, or you can stay there all night."

Alvin didn't feel threatened. Not in any way.

"Or I can ignore you and do what I want. Much more fun than you and your dumb rules."

Those few peas were coming back to haunt him.

Alvin suddenly became nervous.

 _Oh no, he's raising his voice. He's angry, he's going to hit you._

The voice rang in his head again.

"You know what Alvin? I'm tired of you and this new attitude. You're grounded. If I see you leave your room, then no Christmas for you." Dave looked startled after he said it.

Everyone was surprised when Alvin let out a small chuckle.

"Oh Davey Boy, I don't want any presents this year."

He didn't deserve them.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go."

Alvin was trying to worm himself out of the situation, but it was coming too quick. He quickly ran off, clasping his hand over his mouth.

Theodore was following him; he could hear his footsteps.

While it was a longer run, he decided to use the bathroom in their room. That way he can just go to his bed and take a nap afterward, not that that would help anything. He'd probably just wake up even more tired than before.

He swallowed once, turning the corners of his room and running straight to the bathroom. He took his hand off his stomach, his stomach immediately trying to heave itself out of his body. Two minutes of vomiting and four minutes of dry heaving later, his stomach finally realized it was empty.

He stood up, walking to the sink to wash his mouth, frowning when he saw both his brothers and Dave watching him in the mirror. He shrugged, washing out his mouth and splashing his face the same as he's been doing all day. He grabbed the light blue hand towel and patted his face dry.

He looked back up and into the mirror, noticing Dave going over to him. Dave put his hand on Alvin's forehead, his fatherly instinct kicking in, despite not being on the best terms with Alvin at the moment.

"Definitely running a fever. Simon, could you go grab me a thermometer?"

Alvin looked over at Simon, noticing him rolling his eyes but scurry off anyway.

He doesn't care about you.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped at the sudden contact, shoving Theodore off the stool and onto the floor.

He felt guilty, but when he opened his mouth to apologize the words died in his throat.

Dave said something, but Alvin couldn't make out what it was.

"Here you go, Dave."

Dave hovered the thermometer in front of Alvin's mouth as Alvin rolled his eyes, complying, nonetheless.

Silence.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

"102.8." Dave read off, let off a small sigh as he did so.

If Alvin was honest, he wasn't too surprised. That being said, he was angry.

"Come on Alvin, let's get you changed and into bed."

Alvin nearly threw up again. He can't change in front of Simon or Dave, much less into his pjs. They have short sleeves!

"No,"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said no. I'm not doing that."

 _Of course you're not doing that! You still need to find some cash._

"Alvin, you're running a fever. You need to rest."

"Funny, you tell me I need to do a lot of things, yet I never do and I'm just fine." Alvin felt a migraine coming on, from what he wasn't sure.

"Alvin," Dave growled. Dave was warning him. Yet he didn't care.

"That's my name, don't wear it out."

"Alvin," Dave warned again, the frustration in his voice growing.

Alvin crossed his arms and glared at him as if challenging him.

 _You're gonna lose. You lose everything._

Alvin attempted to ignore him.

 _You can't get rid of me that easy, sweetie._

Sickening. Absolutely sickening.

 _Yes, yes, you are._

His fingers were slowly curling, his face was slowly flushing red.

 _Aww… You getting angry? Too bad. Maybe you should learn to control yourself a little better._

Everyone was staring at him. He broke his gaze with Dave, staring at his clenching white fist.

 _You lost. Just like you lost everything else. You lost your 'friends,' you lost your family, your hobbies. But you've never been able to sing. Face it, Alvin, the world is finally seeing you for what you are._

He took a shaky, deep breath.

He could almost hear him smirking.

 _But it's not like you'll be here much longer. Spike is sure to kill you when you come empty-handed._

That was enough to push him over as he roughly pushed past his brothers, shoving them to the ground.

"Alvin, what has gotten into you?!"

"I'm fine!" He snapped at them. Funny how two words can hide so much.

Funny how much people believe in those two, magic words.

"Alvin, you'r-" Alvin sent Theodore a glare, quickly shutting him up.

Alvin started pacing, trying to come up with a plan to- wait, what was he trying to do again? Alvin's anger spiked as he let out a groan and flopped back onto his bed. He wasn't sure if they were trying to talk to him or not, cause all he could hear was that goddam voice.

 _You're forgetting something, and I assure you you'll regret it later._

Alvin rolled his eyes. Why could he just tell him what he was forgetting?

 _Because I don't want you to live until tomorrow._

Alvin rolled his eyes again, his anger dying down and replacing itself with anxiety.

 _Buzz._

Of course.

 _'You're so selfish. I swear you care about yourself more than you've ever cared about your brothers.'_

He shut off his phone, slamming it down on his nightstand. A small echo rippled through the still room, and he suddenly realized how quiet the room had become.

He fell back onto his pillow, his fever starting to catch up with him.

He started shivering again, trying to tense his muscles so it didn't show.

He was dazed, his mind was going completely blank.

He closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath.

He felt the comforter shift under him, causing him to spring up in surprise. He was pushed back down, the comforter being brought over him. While he usually would've fought back insisting he was fine, two months' worth of overworking himself had drained him too much to do so.

Stupid fever.

Everyone watched as he quickly fell asleep.

"Why didn't he tell us he was sick?"

Theodore shifted uncomfortably.

"Maybe he just came down with it?"

"No, he was running a pretty high fever. He must've known something was wrong."

Theodore stayed silent, watching Alvin as he slept. It was the calmest and most peaceful he's seen him in a while.

The conversation from earlier replayed in his head again and again. No matter how much he thought about it, none of it would piece together.

"Theodore?"

He snapped away from his thoughts, reverting his gaze to Simon, "What?"

"I asked if you knew anything about this."

"Oh, um, yeah, he's been sick all day." Theodore instantly regretted saying that, feeling like he betrayed Alvin and said too much. His eyes started darting around the room as he started playing with his fingers.

"Why don't we just ask him when he wakes up?" Dave suggested.

"Like he'll tell us…" Simon muttered. Theodore winced.

* * *

 _Buzz._

Alvin stirred a little, muttering something before going silent again.

 _Buzz._

Alvin stirred a little.

 _Buzz._

Alvin groaned, grabbing his pillow and smashing it over his head.

 _Buzz._

Alvin groaned again, giving up and rolling over. He opened his eyes, squinting at the light. He put his head on his forehead to try and stop the pounding, grabbing his phone. He turned it on, his eyes widening at the number that appeared on his screen.

23 messages from unknown.

He quickly put in his password, slowly sitting up in his bed.

 _'You're a pathetic excuse for a human being.'_ 6:17.  
 _'You're a freak.'_ 6:25.  
 _'Think you can just shove people as you please? Well, I'll show you how it feels later.'_ 6:36.

His eyes scanned the rest of the messages as he forced himself not to react.

But he did when he read the last five.

 _'You're late.'_ 10:46.  
 _'Get down here. NOW!'_ 10:46.  
 _'If you're not down here in ten minutes you're dead.'_ 10:47.  
 _'I swear if you're not here soon…'_ 10:47.  
 _'If you don't come now, I'll slice your brothers into little pieces.'_ 10:47.

He felt his stomach churn at the last one.

He attempted to jump out of bed but got tangled in the covers. He fell off the bed and hit the ground with the loud thud. He let out a groan, scrambling to get out of the blankets. He made it out, ignoring the pit in his stomach and running towards the window.

"Alvin, where are you going? You're sick, you can't leave!"Simon stated, already heading towards him.

"I'm going away from here." He opened the window, wincing at the cold frosty air. Simon grabbed his sleeve, quite aggressively for the matter, and started dragging him back towards his bed.

Alvin let out a small hiss of pain as Simon tightened his grip. His eyes were flooding with salty tears.

He had to get out of here.

He wasn't sure what to do, but his body seemed to have gotten that covered.

Suddenly he was free and Simon was on the ground with the others around him. He didn't bother with their reactions, not that they would be good ones anyway.

He slammed the window behind him, shivering at the freezing cold air that greeted him. He threw his hood over his head, quickly climbing down the tree and making a mad dash for the school. He ran faster than he even knew he could, surprising himself. He was out of breath by the time he was only halfway there, but he didn't stop.

He was lightheaded.

His entire body was tingling.

His lung hurt and his feet were sore.

Which was why he was so relieved when he finally made it to the school.

 _He's going to kill you. He's going to torture you. And you deserve it all._

He finally spotted Spike, leaning against the wall with a beer bottle in his hand.

"It's about time."

The only response he got was Alvin's heavy panting.

"Pay up." Alvin instinctively reached his hand in his pocket, freezing.

Guess that's what he was forgetting.

He cracked a nervous grin, "I don't have anything. You've drained all my cash."He hated speaking in such a smug, rude tone, especially to Spike, but he refused to show any fear.

"You're going to regret that." Came Spike's reply. Alvin shifted nervously, apprehension rising.

"H-how exactly?" He cursed himself for stuttering.

"You'll see," Spike answered, leaning against the wall once more and taking another swing of beer.

Alvin stood there, uncomfortable and anxious. His thoughts were racing, playing through every possible way this can go down. Will he kill him? What if he does? What will happen to his brothers?

What if he goes after his brothers?

He tried to shake the thoughts away, along with the crawling sensation that was creeping under his skin, but they refused to leave.

A shattering sound echoed throughout the alley.

His legs collapsed under him as he held his spinning head.

He looked towards Spike, his vision slightly hazy.

He closed he eyes, preparing for what was coming.

Not even two seconds later he felt himself being lifted by his collar and slammed against the wall. His eyes widened as he let out a small gasp. He felt tears prick his eyes when he found himself unable to breathe in.

He tried to breathe in a few times, but air wouldn't pass through.

He felt himself abruptly hit the ground, the concrete not being too welcoming.

He felt some kind of cold material brush against his skin but didn't worry about it as he continued trying to get air into his desperate lungs.

He didn't bother picking himself off the ground. There was no point.

After a few more frantic breaths, he finally felt a large gulp of oxygen get through.

He could briefly feel his stomach churching again. Before he could even give it a second thought he felt himself being grabbed by the shirt and shoved against the wall. This time his feet could touch the ground, something he was thankful for.

He suddenly felt something cold pressed against his neck and ceased. He let out a shuddering breath before quickly sucking another one in and holding it. He felt his throat tighten, a few tears leaking from his eyes.

 _Crybaby._

Was he actually going to kill him?

"Try pulling this little stunt again and this piece of glass will be embedded in your throat, got it?"

Alvin nodded weakly, too afraid of getting the glass closer to his throat than it already was.

"I said, got it?" Spike repeated, his voice sounding forbidding this time.

"Got it," Alvin said timidly, feeling his heart pulse through his body.

The cold pushing a little further into his throat and slowly slid across his neck, nicking his skin. He felt a small trickle of blood and closed his eyes, preparing for what was coming when suddenly the weight lifted.

He let out a breath of relief, but this was short-lived as he was suddenly dragged forward and shoved back down. His head hit the wall behind him, dizzying him slightly. He tried to curl into a ball like every other night but found he couldn't. He rested his head on the ground, just giving in.

After only a few seconds, he felt something come down on his stomach so hard it knocked the air out of him. The churning in his stomach multiplied, and he found himself vomiting his stomach acids onto the mud.

The cold air made him cough so hard he felt like passing out when he was done.

He heard Spike screaming something by his side, but simply ignored it as slowly drifted off.

* * *

 **What's up guys, I am back! I know it's been soooo long since last update, but I am back and you hopefully won't have to wait that long again! Anyways, please correct any errors in here, I know they'll be there cause I'm trying to get this up as soon as possible. Tell me, did you like it? Was it a letdown after all that time or were you just glad it updated? Feel free to tell me!**

 **In the meantime, hope you enjoyed!**

 **Peace Out!**


End file.
